


When It Bleeds

by Verbophobic



Series: Blood Relations; Yautja Series [1]
Category: Predator, Predator Original Series (1987-1990)
Genre: 13 pages, Action, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Horror, SPOILER HE DIES, That's a lie, The Prologue, Tooth Rotting Fluff, a prologue being at most three to five pages, but also not sorry, but this one was just out of hand, i promise after this chapter i will try to not let it get so insanely long per chapter, if i do something its not going to be half assed, if you dont like long detailed fics then im not the author for you, im sorry, is alredy 8 pages, major character death but also its canon death, most of my others should not by pass 8-10, my next chapter pre editing and putting in details, nah bro, nothing bad actually happens by the pedo becuase he dies before it can, now for actual tags, pfffffffttttt, reasonable chapter lengths? bitch please, that does not exist, this first chapter, this is a necessary spoiler, trigger warning: mention of pedophile
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26665522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verbophobic/pseuds/Verbophobic
Summary: Totally forgot to put up a summary.Experimentation is not always okay. But sometimes its necessarry. Ta'roga knows and understands this. But when he looks at the other experiment being paraded down the hall in front of him he feels nothing byt rage and disgust at these humans. How could they do something liek this to- to-Join us on our exploration into hunter territory where we learn about a code of honor that the 2018 movie tossed to the wind. Join me as i make the 2018 move better later in this story. We will be fixing up plot mistakes, and making a proper set up for the movie and not killing off every good character. I will be killing off characters that we will grow to love but saving others that the movies did dirty.
Relationships: Yautja (Predator)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Blood Relations; Yautja Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965067
Comments: 48
Kudos: 49





	1. 2005; The Laboratory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is insanely long and took me two days of editing so I'm sorry about the length and if i missed anything of importance. I'm always looking for a beta so if anyone would like to just leave a comment. What i look for from a beta is mostly minor editing, going 'Hey the way you worded this sounds funny', 'i have no idea what you mean here', 'heres a possible better way to say what you said but made more understandable' and overall chatting eagerly about possible plot ideas.

Prologue: 2005; The Laboratory

Ta'roga sat in the cell he had been condemned to for the past three weeks. The distress call - more meant as a warning than an earnest call for help - he had received told him about what this faction of humans were trying to do. As an up and coming Arbiter, readying himself for his final test before becoming one of the high rankers while still so young, he was given the task of being bait. It was his duty to learn of what the humans were doing, eradicate the group that was instigating it if he could or if need be wait for opportunity. He’d been warned that he might not make it out alive or that he could be here for a long time before enough information was gained and current Arbiters would arrive. But he accepted the risks and the mission, this was his duty and he was honored to be doing it. 

It was said that the humans were capturing and experimenting on his kind, though no one knew if it was live capture or taking the bodies of the deceased. Stealing their technology and putting those honorable hunters to shame with their experimentations rather than just letting them have their honorable deaths. Rumors of the humans actually keeping the hunters alive, cutting them open and dissecting them while they still breathed, had picked up speed and to quell them he was here to learn the truth. The truth he was beginning to feel was far worse than those rumors.

What the distress call had said was that the humans were tracking a team of young bloods being taught about their race. Those youths were not allowed to hunt but rather were to just observe. To see why humans held such a high place of honor upon the prey list. The humans were to be seen as badbloods for their defecation of sacred rituals. For attacking the young generation without provocation or honor.

The humans had set up an ambush. Tranquilizers were used to capture as many of the group as possible. But the dose was so heavy that the teacher was sure one or two students were dead already as he sent the warning out. The brutalization of young - even if they were freshly blooded - was unacceptable. Especially for such an innocent hunt like that of information. If the humans had engaged for battle that would have been different. That would have been _honorable_. But whatever _this_ was, was nothing of the sort. This capture and torture was sadistic and lead towards the belief of the humans being badbloods.

Armed with the knowledge from the warning call along with multiple implanted tracking devices - devices that recorded his bodily functions such as eating, heart rate, his breathing along with other trackers including location and chemicals in his blood - Ta’roga had set upon earth. He hunted with only the intention of catching the attention of the group so as to be captured himself. It had worked just as planned and now here he was. Trapped and taking in all the information he could so that upon escape or death the Arbiters would know what he did.

In this laboratory hallway, glass cells lined each side, filled with his own species. It was most of the group that the call had been about. Ta’roga’s examination of the clear barrier resulted in the knowledge it was tempered and breaking it would expend far too much of his strength. He needed a plan to get not just himself out but the others too, to be prepared as any aggression or attempt to break out would result in him being gassed with a chemical that made him drowsy and weak limbed. A frontal attack was out of the question, shatting the barrier and others would not be beneficial, and he was not sure of how to swipe a scientist's key card yet or how to gain access to the panel that was used to open the glass walls that kept them in.

Standing as he was, again observing and trying to think of yet another possible plan of escape he looked at the hunter across from him. There sat a hunter he recognized even if he was not very close with them. Bl’nk was only a few hunts younger than himself and he was known to thoroughly enjoy teaching young bloods, preferring to train the youth and pass on knowledge, even bringing them out on information hunts as this hunt should have been. 

Now though the hunter looked thin and had a tiredness that Ta’roga had never seen in one of his own kind. It was like he had given up on life, on freedom, and accepted that his new future was this cell forevermore. Ta’roga may never have seen this before, but he understood it. Only two out of the ten cells were empty, the rest filled with the youngbloods, and those two were coated in yellowing green blood, drying and rotting. He didn’t know who had been in the cells or what had happened but he prayed to Paya and Centanu for them. The class of youngbloods had been twenty strong upon reaching Earth, twenty including four teachers yet only Bl’nk remained of those elders.

For the weeks that Ta’roga had been here, he had to watch as one by one the humans came and gassed the youngbloods, cut them open or injected them with things. It was horrifying in the least but he refused to let it show. Refused to break like it seemed Bl’nk had. He did not like seeing the young male in the cell next to him strapped down as he had been gassed, but still very much awake and weak, then cut into, layer by layer, they examined the boy. 

Looking at his skin, his blood, muscles that quivered in agony, tissue that held him together but was going to be destroyed after this, organs that were still beating with life, and they took his eye. Ta’roga almost lost his composure as they popped his eye out of the socket, it could likely still see as it was connected yet. They cut the mandibles off at the base while examining his connected eye. The boy didn’t last the night after they finished with him. They knew he wouldn’t and they just left him strapped to the table, wounds open, organs connected but out of him, the eye set up in mocking to watch himself.

He supposed that was one of the main reasons that Bl'nk looked so dejected, ready to just allow the humans to take his life with no fight. Even if he could get them out of here by the morrow, that Bl’nk was a shell of the hunter he had once been. The most honorable course of action for him would be self-sacrificing and use his gauntlet’s self destruct to destroy this building and all information stored in it. Ta’roga looked down at his own bare arm and clenched his fist, he hated how degraded the humans have made him feel, not just with the theft of his armor and gauntlet, but they couldn’t even spare him shame and let any of them keep their loincloths.

The door at the end of the hall opened with a soft sound of air wooshing, the releasing of a pressure lock he knew it meant, and the young predators in the cages all around tensed up. Their hackles raised like that of a feline, but the humans didn’t even take notice - if they even knew that this was possible which he doubted. When a Yautja felt fear - or rather when they were severely stressed as most of his kind no longer felt fear, their Taylu (he had heard the humans refer to them as dreads as they’d peeled the youth beside him apart) pulled a bit tighter at the roots. Right where taylu met their crested heads stiffened and they looked a bit larger than when released along with the whiskers that spotted along their bodies. Younger hunters still puffed up often due to their inexperience. So while Ta’roga and Bl'nk were the only two who did not puff up, Bl'nk just huffed and moved to the edge of his cage, prepared to watch whatever horror his students - his responsibilities - were going to be put through next. 

Ta’roga had not expected that there was anything more than last night's butchering that could affect him, nothing more that could surprise or horrify him, but seeing what came through the hallway, past the row of cages proved that thought wrong. Bl’nk puffed up much like the young bloods as they looked down the hall and through the layers of glass which distorted the image but they knew what they were looking at even with the deformity.

There were two scientists that walked along chatting with each other, the males stood quite close to each other, smiling and bumping lightly into each other. “I’ve got to bring it to the maze in a few but I think I have time to grab a coffee along the way. Come watch it make its way through, this one's extraordinary, the best yet. And the injections seem to be working, hyping up the healing process. WHat would take you or me weeks to heal, takes it days. Days! You know how much this will progress the treatment of infections and cancers?”

Their words bleed away to his hearing as he focused solely on what was being paraded through, like a prized pet at the end of the chain they held. At first he had thought they had captured something else to test on and while he wasn’t wrong, he had never expected what it was. Hands balled into fists shook with his rage, his taylu puffed up and he rumbled lowly with his growl of nothing less than fury. How could anyone do anything like this, _to a child?!_

The child was extremely young, only coming up to at most the scientists' waists. It was hard to tell because the child was hunched over, either in pain or fear- possibly a combination of both he realized. It - as Ta’roga could not yet guess to the gender - had a chain attached to a collar that it was led by. The tiny hands, too small to do any sort of harm to any of the humans, were cuffed together in front of it. Leather bindings that were rubbing those tiny wrists raw and he could see dried blood caked around them. Dark brown hair hung limp and gressily from it’s head as it looked down, the length covering its face down to it’s hips. Ta’roga instinctively purred, sensing the child's distress as the scientist stopped in front of the exit, chatting animatedly and forgoing actually leaving.

When it - no she - looked up at him he moved to the wall and kneeled. She was obviously starved, even if she was a prized pet that they were displaying she was treated no better than he was. He was naked and put up for a show, she was tortured and paraded about. Humans disgusted him. At the very least they did cover her with some old discarded clothes. She wore - what was on her - a dress but on the man before her would be a shirt that hung to her knees and one shoulder barred as the shirt sagged down because it was far too large on her too thin frame. It was in fact too large in size for her but because of her emaciated state it only seemed even larger. Large doe brown eyes looked up at him as he purred, her cheeks sunk in from hunger and all around her eyes were dark lines. He had trouble sleeping due to what was being done and just what he was being forced to watch, he had no doubt she was in a similar predicament.

How long had she been here, he wondered. Just what has she seen in her subjugation to these badbloods? How many others were there like her? Children that were experimented on much like he and his kind were? His purring picked up a notch as he thought about this. Because if he, a fully blooded Yautja who had seen death his entire life, hunted and killed horrors that humans could not yet even imagine, was affected by the sights around him now; how could a pup like herself handle this?

The scientists had yet to notice as they had shifted from a content chatter to an argument arguing about something he didn’t care about. Keeping an eye on them he reached for his tray and took the meat off of it, they slipped the food in once a day in through a hole at the bottom of the glass cage. Raw meat likely wasn’t good for a human child, but could it be worse than the nothing she was obviously being given now? He tore a chunk of meat off and reached through the hole offering it to her as he looked away from the scientists. They were given a cup of putrid smelling water, some dry flat piece of food, and a chunk of raw meat as their meal. Her mouth opened and she breathed heavily as she looked at the meat he was holding out, a tiny dribble of drool trailed from her lips as she grabbed the bloody chunk and hid it in her hands. 

The door opened that they were in front of and the scientist holding her chain tugged hard, causing her to fall and whimper before she quickly stood up and scurried fearfully after them. The last Ta’roga saw of her, she was stuffing the raw meat into her mouth to eat it as quickly as possible before she could get caught. Looking back at Bl'nk he saw the other hunter falter again, before collapsing to his knees with a renewed feeling of despair. 

The humans were worse than either of them had believed. Sure they neither cared for humans as a race other than for the hunt, but this was - Ta’roga honestly had no words for what it was. If he thought being forced to watch the youngblood being dissected alive in the cage right next to him was a nightmare, whatever this was - it could only be hell.

From that day on he waited to see or hear the child again. SHe hadn’t made a sound other than her soft scurrying and the jangle of chains, so he listened hard for that, even for a tiny rapid heart beat. But nothing in any of the following days. All he wanted was to glimpse her again, to know she survived and might make it until he could escape and destroy this hell. Ta’roga knew how unlikely it was though. The scientists' experiments were terrible, they killed even his sturdier kind, so what hope did a pup that weighed no more than two stones?

The young bloods around him had struggled for years, training every day, hunting as often as they were allowed, surviving their chiva, and still these humans were killing them off one by one in their tests. Really, what kind of likelihood was it that she was still alive? He should stop hoping to see her paraded through here again. Should think of that one time as a fluke a first and last that never should have been. Bl’nk was losing hope with every experiment on the youngbloods, and Ta’roga was beginning to understand that for himself. He was losing hope for the child with every scientist that walked though here and didn’t drag her along.

As the faint sound of chains rattled he looked at Bl’nk, and was already standing. Puffing up at the glass as he waited to see the girl again. Bl’nk barely had it in himself to stand, staggering towards the glass from an internal struggle Ta’roga could not help him with. Both hoped to see the girl again, not another child or another beast. If it wasn’t her, they would both know she was dead and that there was no hope left. For a few moments Ta’roga felt that he had been the wrong choice for this mission, that he didn’t deserve to be an Arbiter because this was going to break him.

Ta’roga would not be surprised in the least if they were dragging a new child along. Disgusted and enraged of course, but not surprised. They had already broken him of that with the first child. He doubted nothing other than a docile and domesticated kiande amedha could take him by surprise now, and he knew that _that_ endeavor was impossible. While he didn’t agree with any race with using sentient beings as test subjects against their will, he understood it. He could not fault them for even using his kind seeing as his kind _had_ and _do_ use humans as test subjects. Ta’roga did not agree with it and was thankful to know his kind cut all ability to feel pain for those that were subjected to tests. He would fault the humans though, for the underhanded and dishonorable tactics and treatment; especially for using their own kind against their will for tests. 

Pups should never be treated to this kind of horror.

Bl'nk roared suddenly and pounded on his glass enclosure as the scientists got close. The girl was the same as before but she looked so much worse. Dirtier, the dress she wore was torn and spotted with blood most likely her own though he was sure there was too much to be just hers, one eye was blacked and he was surprised to see that it was open and not swelled shut. The size of the bruise would have had him guessing it to be swollen shut for days to come but she was able to see out of it. As the scientists paused outside of Bl'nk’s enclosure, suddenly interested in his show of aggression, Ta’roga took the opportunity to kneel down and put a palm to the glass that separated him from the child that looked up at him with no fear, no hatred, just an abyss of nothing pooled in the dark depths of her broken eyes.

The girl wanted nothing more than for this torture to be over he could tell. Maybe if she got close enough to the hole he could do that for her. Yes, it was dishonorable to kill children, the unarmed, women, but this girl was in agony locked up here. It would be a mercy to kill her and he would allow his soul to be tainted with her death, even if it would be considered honorable to kill her for her own sake. She got close to his glass and then lifted her cuffed hands, putting one tiny - somewhere slightly chubby even though she was starving - palm to the glass to match his and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. This small act of putting her hand on his showed she still had fight left, a will to survive even if it was breaking more and more every day.

He found that his uncaring attitude was just that, an attitude, and he cared deeply at the thought of killing this poor child even if it would save her. So instead he pushed his meal, the meat he had shredded earlier but hadn't dared eat yet, out to her. She looked at the scientists and saw that they were posturing and mocking Bl'nk so she carefully but quickly began to eat it all, shoving the stale hard bread into her mouth, choking it down with his cup of water, then the raw meat as quickly as possible. All Ta’roga would need to do was reach out and grab her, snap her small neck and she would be _free_ of this place but he could not do it! 

He needed to steel himself for what he did not want to, but needed to do. He was taken aback as Bl'nk fell to his knees, feigning giving up then lunging for his own food hole, grabbing a scientist by the leg and pulling hard. He dragged the man to the hip into the cage, dug his mandibles into tender flesh and tore, getting a better grip on the bloodied leg he tugged as if in an effort to pull the man into the cage too but they both knew the weak body would give long before he could be pulled in. All of the Yautja could hear the pop as the joint dislocated and the tearing of flesh had the youngbloods roaring in a cheer. 

They had lost another the other day and this, while it didn’t repay them for what had been done to them, it felt good and gave them a small sense of triumph. The man was screaming and the girl abandoned the food to go to the man. SHe was grabbing at his body, searching for something before grabbing at her chain, trying to tug herself out of the death grip he had on the links.. The second scientist had yet to notice as he ran to the wall, hitting a large red button on the control pad. An alarm wailed but the Yautja just kept chanting, creating an uproar and distracting the scientist from the child.

Ta’roga clicked at her eagerly. Come he could help with tearing the chain away from the man, and if she could willingly fit into the hole as he thought she might, he could try to protect her in here! Unfortunately before she could move his way as he was trying to urge her, armed men burst into the room. The scientist was suddenly grabbing her chain and dragging her off and away. Ta’roga roared his displeasure and began to beat on the glass. The scientist on the floor lay still, only giving a few final death spasms as his body finally gave out. Then the armed men took aim at Bl'nk who was grinning victoriously. 

He had been ready to die for weeks now but he had at least taken one of the child’s abusers with him. Ta’roga was not so naive though, he knew the scientist was one of many and would just as easily be replaced. But this still felt good to know they had hurt someone in this place that only hurt them. As a soldier at the far end of hall typed on a pad then joined the squad, the glass that kept the men safe from Bl’nk began to lift. The hunter was ready, preparing to take at least one more before his time was up.

Looking around Ta’roga chirred and tilted his head at what he saw. The girl was making a stand it seemed. She had the dead scientists badge in her hand and watching the one that now held her chain, trying to find an opportunity to use it. Ta’roga called to the others, telling them to attack the glass, get all attention on them from the scientist and all the remaining Yautja looked at the scientist who suddenly realized they were growling and snarling at him. They pounded on the class creating cracks but not breaking free, he was terrified and couldn’t look away from the chaos.

Seeing her chance she scanned the badge and typed in a code probably having memorized the patter from watching as she could not see the pad itself. The scientist never noticed her as the beep of a successful input was obscured by the loud roaring. One by one, starting from the far end the glass enclosures turned green and the predators silenced. The scientist paled, before looking at the girl with the badge, understanding just what had happened. A hissing of hydraulics began and Ta’roga grinned manically at Bl'nk. One by one the glass fronts were lifting and Ta’roga waited eagerly for his turn at escape. 

The scientist grabbed the girl and lifted her, tossing her over his shoulder and running as he put a code in to open the door. Ta’roga told the first young blood to stop the scientist but he was not fast enough. The scientist ran through the door and he heard as it locked behind him. By the time he got out, the humans were nearly decimated. Three remained and two had tried to run, they were his he told his allies.

It had been lambs to a slaughter for the human’s. The hunters were angry, blood thirsty, revenge driven. There were to be no trophies not that the humans were really left in good enough shape to take any anyway. The blatant blood bath was not enough for the angry hunters and they were ready for more. Ta’roga was prepared to let them but first he wanted his own revenge.

The two that had tried to run. Because the scientist had locked the door with a security clearance code and they could not get free in time and his shadow fell upon them, they knew what was about to happen. Ta’roga effortlessly snapped one's neck in a sigle grab and twist movement and as the other raised his rifle to shoot, Ta’roga grabbed the weapon with his free hand. He tugged hard while twisting it in his hands, forcing the human to let go or be tugged with the weapon. Turning to aim and he saw as the horror hit the man as he realized that the predator knew how to use their weapons. 

Why that surprised the human’s Ta’roga would never know. The humans _knew_ that the Yautja were technologically more advanced compared to them, so why would they not know how to use such a simplistic weapon? Point and shoot, he had used weapons like this all his life, had learned to shoot without a need for aim as that was second nature now. If the technology failed his kind, they would not be crippled. It's how they were trained.

One shot to the man's head killed him, felling him like a sack, and Ta’roga took the knife - a dagger in his own hands - from the guy’s belt and looked back at the other hunters who had just as easily killed the rest of the humans. Only one had any wounds and it was superficial, bleeding but not heavily and it was already seeming to clot. He took rank over those that were here in age and skill so he led them with orders. Find their weapons, their supplies, eradicate this infestation of humans. He had Bl’nk lead all but two youngbloods for this hunt.

Ta’roga would take these two with him if there was need of help. He doubted he would need them but it was better to be prepared. No doubt these two would much rather go with Bl’nk and get their loincloths, weapons, and armor - Paya he would rather have his loincloth than go through here naked - but he needed to find and dave the girl. They all owed her their lives for what she did.

While Bl'nk accepted the orders easily, already going to the other door and instructing two young bloods on how to pull it open, the two that Ta’roga had picked hesitated. They didn’t understand why they were going to save a human especially with the fact humans had done so much to them. He let them know that the human’s dishonor would be there if they did not help the girl that had essentially saved them. They seemed to accept that and he was glad that they seemed to understand easily. Not all humans were at fault for these badbloods actions, elast of all the child.

The young bloods while weak compared to their usual strength were still easily able to pull the doors appart. It seemed the scientist had not respected the enemy they caged enough, this place had not been built with the thought that the predators would ever escape. Along the way Ta’roga let them kill those that they encountered, claiming the scientist as his own. If he were to take a trophy that man’s head would be the only one, not that he wanted it. It seemed to be going good for them, until he found the room where the children were being kept. Their cells were more like small hound cages. Stacked three high and ten in a row, they only reached his chest in height at most. The young bloods seemed to understand upon seeing this room just what they had stumbled into. 

This room permeated with the stench of death, decay, rot, and other indiscernible scents. He could see the excrements that leaked out of the cages, these children were living in squalor. AS they walked passed the cages slowly, Ta’roga noted that most of the children were worse than the girl. These must be the failures for their experimentations. Half of the cages held nothing more than bodies, some fresh, some decaying, and one had the majority of a childs skeletal structure on display. The devils that did this - they put the children here to _die_ he realized. They didn't have the decency to take the life with their own hands, so the abandoned the children to starve and see each other suffer. They were all oddly silent as they watched the predators make their way through the room.

Every cage had a sheet with a red stamp on it, with a quick look at a single sheet he saw the single red word. REJECTED. They were killing off the experiments because they _failed_ , because they could not withstand the torture and trauma that they were put through they were here to die. The girl wasn’t in this room, he noticed and decided to move onto the next where he heard an oddly familiar snarling. He looked at the children once more, seeing them watching him, and he vowed to come back and put them out of their misery.

The new room caused him pause. This place was filled with kiande amedhas, all alive, snarling and pacing, they drooled half starved and with no queen to lead them they were nothing more than caged beasts. A cage in the back hissed shut, locking tight, and when he moved to stand before it he could see it had the scientist cowered in it, the girl locked up with him. This cage was like the ones they had been kept in, it would withstand his attacks and he guessed it would need to as it was supposed to be a kiande amedhas cage. Squatting down he tapped on the glass as the girl who had dared to come close put her hand to it like he had before and he repeated the gesture. 

“Will return. Free you.” He growled before he looked at the scientist. Ta’roga pointed to a corner, “go,” she moved where he wanted her to go easily even if she didn’t understand why. The food slot was below him and keeping eye contact with the horrified scientist who suddenly seemed to realize what was about to happen - but was far too slow to avoid it - was shot up as the gun was aimed in the hole and he pulled the trigger. 

“Will return.” Once more he reiterated to her before he left. He would help get her free somehow. On his ship he had a device that could hack in and unlock the cage. He’d have to get it to come back as the kiande amedhas needed to be destroyed. He just hoped she could survive the three days it would take to travel there and back.

She had water, the kiande amedha cages all had a pool of water as the humans likely didn’t want to risk going in. If she was truly hungry, he supposed the scientist would be food for her. But he hoped she could hold off for the few days until he returned. Upon which he would feed her properly, heal her however she needed, and make sure she survived because if anyone deserved to live it was her. He would not allow for nothing to come out of her brave act of freeing them.

Back in the room with the children he hesitated as he looked at his gun and at the young bloods who had started to purr in an attempt to sooth the distressed children. They had stayed behind at his command to watch the door, he had seen their own distress at this place and thought it best to let them come to terms on their own. These children were all dying, he knew, insides rotting from what the scientists had done and they were all far too gone for even their advanged healing.

There was a choice he had now; leave them to starve and die of whatever they were infected with - be no better than the humans -, or put them out of their misery now. A painless death compared to what they would otherwise suffer. Opening a cage he lifted the gun and the child looked up at him. She was older than the other girl, but it seemed her bones had grown crooked because of this to the too small space she was in, or maybe it was a disease she had and failed to overcome. Her every breath sounded like agony. Somehow she found the will to smile at him, “thank… you…” her eyes closed and she waited for the inevitable. 

Ta’roga pulled the trigger and when he looked around, saw many young faces pressed against their cage doors, watching him with open mouths and hope in their eyes. Before he could begin to feel the disgust at his own actions, the children began to call out to him, some in languages he didn’t know, others with just garbled sounds, some with pounding on the glass. He knew what they were asking and it made his empty stomach churn. _Me next, me next!_ One by one, he opened their cages and put them out of their misery. He was ending their suffering but hated the knowledge of what it meant, the death of so many pups.

When he ran out of ammunition he dropped the gun and used the knife he still carried. Carefully he reached into the next cage, cradled the scared child’s head and purred loudly, calmingly. “No pain, promise.” He spoke in his too deep tone, voice gravelly and sounding like he was talking around rocks, but the child didn’t seem to care. He relaxed and leaned into what was probably the kindest touch he had in months, then Ta’roga turned his head just enough to gain easy access to the back where his spine and skull met. He placed the blade’s tip right at the soft spot and drove it in with one quick push. The child slumped instantly, the life disappearing from his eyes and a disturbing, peaceful, smile on his face before going slack. 

Ta’roga gave the youngbloods a new command, to hunt down every human, kill them all. As they had gone silent with the heavy situation taking its toll on them. There were still many children left to deal with. The youngbloods had seen enough and did not need to be here for this. He requested that they inform their teacher that he wanted the other to come here and witness this situation with a mask. It needed to be documented and sent back to the clanship, the other Arbiters. This situation was far out of his hands with its enormity.

It took Ta’roga twenty more minutes to finish his own task. Each child deserved his full attention and he didn’t want to rush, didn’t want any of them to feel anything so he took his time while also moving along as swiftly as possible. Each child cherished his touch, leaned into him happily, welcoming and embracing death because it was far kinder than the agony they were all in here. Even the most uncaring of Yautja would be affected by this, and he was not one of them. He knew he cared far too much.

Sitting heavily against the door leading to the kiande amedhas, not caring any longer about being naked as he had noticed most of the children were in the same state as he, and he listened. Listened to the silence, the snarling of the other aliens, and the slight breathing of the girl trapped where he could not help her. Bl'nk found him just sitting there a few minutes later, this had weighed heavily on him and had anyone but Bl'nk found him he would be shamed. Maybe not as the situation was a hard one even the elders would be taken aback by.

Ta’roga let Bl'nk go into the next room, see the aliens, the child and the dead scientist locked up. He was standing up by the time Bl'nk came out and he gave no indication of his previous moment of shame. As the teacher held out a loincloth Ta’roga took it while blinking in confusion, it took him a moment to realize what he was supposed to do with it.They needed to go, the longer they stayed here the more likely humans would show up, the longer the girl would suffer. Looking back he saw her pressed against the glass looking at him.

“Will return, free you from cage.” He promised a final time then took off with the rest of the hunters. Dressing and arming himself he would move swiftly so as to save her from as much suffering as he could.

.~:*:~.

By the time Ta’roga returned, it was too late. Only three days, just like he had predicted, but it wasn’t fast enough still. Humans had already refilled the laboratory, soldiers who stood guarding the entrances and scientists in their white coats alike, both scoured about like some kind of infestation. Humans were like roaches, finding every dark disgusting crevice to crawl into and take over. They took and took, never giving back, destroying the very world they needed for life. 

Here they were once again, stealing the one thing Ta’roga had come abc for with hope. Did they already free the girl from the cell only to start the experiments again? His clawed fingers twitched as bright lights ignited and he felt an urge to set his self destruct and just fight his way inside as deep as he could and let fate control the rest.

Ta’roga decided, as he watched the motion sensitive lights die out, that this was going to be the end for him. Bl'nk would only wait two days for Ta’roga to return before leaving, using the Arbiter’s ship for escape as his own was lost to the humans somewhere else. Even though the teacher wanted nothing more than to go into the settlement and destroy it himself, recompense for the loss of the lives he had failed to protect. But the ARbiter refused to allow that. _He_ had made the promise to the pup to return, so he would see it through himself. The students that still lived needed someone so Bl’nk would have to put off his honorable death for another time.

Ta’roga doubted he would succeed in saving the girl with how many humans there were in this place now. He would not be able to go in, get her, and get out. If anything he might make it in far enough to find her but escape would be nearly impossible with this new human infestation. They were nearly as bad as the kiande amedhas, with how easily they could overrun a place. 

Bl'nk accompanied him to the edge of a forest on the cliff overlooking the laboratory. They stayed in a tree keeping watch and looked for any sort of opportunity to go in. Right as Ta’roga saw the gap in the guard watch the lights turned on in a blinding brightness and he watched the new human arrivals. This was a human all of their kind was coming to know quite well, he entered the building at a jog, his team slower behind him before stopping to guard the entrance. 

This was the team led by the one called Dutch, killer of his kind. Hunter of hunters. Ta’roga was not afraid but he also was not stupid. He stood no chance against all of these humans who were on the look out for his kind. This mission turned instantly into a suicide mission.

He now wasn’t sure he would even find the child at this point. If he went in the team would be searching for his kind and he would be found out long before he could make it to her. One of Dutch’s team stopped and threw a hand up, eyes on the forest and the entire team had their guns at the ready, watching and waiting for whatever the mountain of a man had thought he’d seen. Ta’roga would never even make it _in_ at this rate. 

“What do you see, Brand?” One of the others whispered, all eyes on the trees and cliffs around the clearing.

It was now a stand off of patience with the team, Ta,roga nor Bl'nk dared to move let alone retreat. With this team’s widely known skills and their ability to kill his kind, how skilled they were, the hunters knew even a stealthy retreat would be a risk. Few Yautja would even try to fight against this team, those that ended up in the cross hairs and had no choice knew it was an honorable death that awaited them. 

Time ticked by and the team still refused to let their guard down, the man seemed sure he had seen something but was unable to determine what or where. He just knew that something was watching them and that out here there was only one thing that it could be. After a while he relaxed, determining there were no hunters as there had been no further signs of them. Or that the hunters had left upon seeing how futile an attack now would be.

Dutch came out soon after they had lowered their weapons, something small bundled up in his arms and Ta’roga stood slowly, trying to get a better view. The team forgot instantly about the hunters and clustered around Dutch. Each of them silent but nonetheless trying to peer at what the muscled leader had. The scientist that had been here before obviously stole something from this team and that was why they were here now.

“Move back,” The heavily accented voice called out, more than loud enough that the predators heard. “She needs room.” _She?!_ Did the Hunter of Hunters mean what Ta’roga thought he did? 

Pulling what covered the bundle back Ta’roga almost gave himself away as he released a broken chirr. It was! It was his pup! The girl he was here to save! Thankfully the team was distracted and begane quite loud themselves upon seeing the girl. She looked exhausted, more so than when he had last seen her, frailer and almost ashen in color. Sickly and dying? The girl looked around at the faces crowsing her and her dry lips cracked as she gave the barest of smiles.

“Dutch, she-”

“I know. But the doctor said she will be alright in time. We must go though.”

The girl peered up at the sky and her jaw dropped as she was seeing the stars for the first time in a long while before her eyes fell upon where Ta’roga now stood, uncloaked and his pale motelling a bright comparison against the dark woods. He hid himself instantly as soon as she spotted him and he could see the small smile on her lips widneing, he had come back for her just like he promised. Now he would need to fight the toughest human’s on the planet to save her. It was going to be hard to track them but he would do it. He would free her even if he had to take years to do it.

“Papa,” Her voice tinkered like a little bell. Soft and kind even though he had thought her voice would be rough from the collar or abuse. “What did the bad men do to mama?” So the hunter of hunters was her sire and her carrier had been in there somewhere too. But her sire did not bring her out also which could only mean one thing.

Dutch clutched the tiny girl tighter in his giant arms. She was like a doll compared to the man and Ta’roga knew she would be even smaller against his own size. Maybe he should wait purposefully before stealing her away, give her time to grow and gain health. “It will be alright. You will stay with papa from now on.” 

Ta’roga gave a silent snarl, no sound left him but his mandibles twitched into and expression of rage. He did not want to leave her again, he wanted to see her up close for himself. He also did not want her to be the next generation hunter of hunters. He would make damn sure to get her before then, teach her that his kind were not the enemies. She was too perfect to be turned into her Sire and hunting his kind in an attempt to destroy their honor. One day she would make a beautiful huntress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to reiterate the tags because next chapter ahs a major trigger to it. There is a child molester in it. I will not go into any details about anything nor will he actually hurt our precious child from this chapter. But he has ever intention to. IF you don't want to read about a guy trying to rape and FAIL at it, then leave now or skip the next chapter. If you wish to skip the next chapter I will ahve a small summary in the A/N on chapter three that goes over anything of importance in that chapter so that you do not need to read it. THe Pedo is minor character whose purpose is to die. The main point of the chapter is to help warp our Oc's sense of justice and whats right and wrong so that instead of keeping Dutch's view of 'kill all aliens' she gains a view of 'a lot of humans are the real monsters and these aliens have done nothing but help me so they cant be bad even if they kill people'. 
> 
> Finally lets go over the Characters introduced here.  
> Dutch: OC's father. Leader of a small band of alien hunters working for the OWLF.  
> ???: ??? The mountain of a man who has an important roll.  
> Ta'roga: Main Predator. He is an up and coming Arbiter who is doing a final test before he gains the tital. His test was to destroy the humans in the Lab to stop more live experimentation and learn the truth of the situation.  
> Bl'nk: Was originally a BLANK name and i just said screw it. WAs a teacher of the young bloods but has lost honor due to capture and experimentation.  
> Youngbloods: Was only here to gain knowledge and do intelligence gathering so that they would never underestimate humans. WAs then captured and experimented on, some of these characters will return with names.  
> OWLF: Other Worldly Life Forms; a program that is there for the purpose of hunting down and killing hunters. Taking and learning the technology to better prepare themselves for a future fight against the Yautja.  
> ???: Our main OC who will get a proper introduction next chapter.
> 
> [Art](https://jazzyims.tumblr.com/post/630346112125059072/dontcrime-hands-its-an-excerpt-from-a-story)


	2. Sugar Coating MAPs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Dutch and his team are called away for a hunt involving a predator that’s killing seemingly innocent people around a particular area. But it’s an odd feeling Dutch gets in his stomach, this must be a trap. So he figured it’s best to leave one of his team behind for it. The rookie would be his best bet as this is the man’s ‘first’ bug hunt.
> 
> Only something feels more off about the man than the hunters killing ex scientist. Kat may not understand due to her age, but she very much knows that the rookie should not be looking at her and licking his lips like she was to be devoured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: There's a man who is a pedophile in this chapter. He does not actively hurt the child but it's quite clear he intends to. If you are not okay with that DO NOT READ. If you so choose to skip over this chapter comment and I will summarize it for you so that you do not miss anything of importance.

Ch 1: 2007; Sugar Coating MAPs

Dutch patted his daughter on the top of her mass of wavy brown hair in greeting before leaning down to press a firm kiss to her part. His usual good morning to her and a way to reassure her he loved her and reassure himself she was really just fine. It had helped him a lot in the beginning when she began to live with the team. Especially after a night terror of hers - or his own - a hug of his daughter and firm hair kiss always helped sooth them both.

She was an early riser and one of his team - whoever was on watch most times - would keep an eye on her and make her food if she’d wander out of Dutch’s tent. There were a few times he’d been on watch himself when she’d came out, dragging the fleece blanket Brand had given her, and cuddling up in his lap to take a slight nap while waiting for others to wake. Although ‘early riser’ was not exactly the correct terminology as it wasn’t just her body waking up early, it was a struggle to stay asleep due to her traumatizing past with the scientist. 

Katherine had been kidnapped by a rogue OWLF branch (said branch had claimed a different name and OWLF declined to claim it as their own) two years prior and since then she’s had trouble with minor insomnia, Doc assured him that with time she would grow out of it but he could not press her or risk it becoming worse. Everyone dealt with PTSD differently and this was just how she was dealing with hers.

Dutch knew PTSD when he saw it and realized with a heavy heart that it was one thing to see it in hardened men and another entirely to see his own daughter struggling with it. Katherine looked up at him now though and smiled passed a mouthful of - what even was that? Looking into what Angus had made he figured it must be the last of the powdered eggs. Or at least the color and consistency had him hoping that’s what it was. Reaching down he took his daughter's fork as she held it up on offering - really she was just lifting the forkful towards her own mouth-, he tried her eggs and made a face before she snatched the fork back. “Angus, what is this crap you are feeding my daughter?”

The other man just chuckled. “She likes it.” Grabbing the spoon he’d used to make the apparently inedible eggs, he plopped another heaping onto the almost empty plate and sure enough, Katherine’s eyes lit up. She was living for this food right now. Again Dutch placed a kiss to her hair as she ate, then Angus handed the man a hairband and brush. “Your turn to tame that mess.”

Dutch grimaced knowing his daughter's hair was never easy to ‘tame’, as Angus had put it. “How can you just let your da tear your hair out like that?” One of Dutch’s men - a new recruit by the name of William Compton - asked as he entered. Dutch felt as his daughter paused in eating to look up at the man. She was always a bit tense around him but Dutch knew it would pass, he was a new face and she did not like new faces since the incident.

Katherine shrugged and spoke around a mouthful of food, not very lady like Dutch knew but she was growing up now around a bunch of dirty, sweaty, soldiers. “Doesn’t hurt, other things have hurt worse.” Her eyes fell down onto the plate and she didn’t look at anyone in the tent. Brand entered right after Compton and she neglected to greet him. Compton urged Dutch to move to the side before taking the brush and pulling her hair into two ratty sections. He made a show of it to Dutch and started to brush at the bottom of her tangles slowly making his way up to her roots, fingers raking through the strands after each pass of the brush, and then handed the brush back to Dutch, motioning for her uncombed side. “Really, it’s fine.” Katherine spoke a lot softer than usual but he attested that to the fact she kept shoveling powdered eggs into her mouth, finishing her plate in moments.

Watching her eat, Dutch knew a shadow had passed over his features because Angus put a hand on his arm to gain his attention. He didn’t see how Compton was watching him closely but Brand took note. The three of them knew why she ate like this, enjoying crappy food and shoveling it in as if she might not eat tomorrow or for days. Compton wouldn’t know as Dutch had told his team to not spread what happened even to others that joined. 

Deep breath in, hold it, and release it, he did the action and felt some of the fury pass. Now he pressed another kiss to Kat’s hair and took a few moments to just breathe adain. She was here, she was fine, no one was ever going to hurt her again. Then he began to brush her hair as Compton had shown him and it was slow but far easier than tearing the brush through her tangled mess before. With it all brushed he tugged and pulled it up. The band was pulled tight around it and she adjusted where it sat before shaking her head, and immediately knotting some of the long strands. 

“I'm going to go play!” She called and dashed out of the tent grabbing Brand’s hand and tugging him to go with her. She thought it was just playing but the mountain of a man was helping her learn to fight. Training her in the form of playing games. Escrima Stick Fighting was the easiest thing to teach her without her realizing just what she was learning. When the time came they would make sure she knew it but telling her now might only renew the fear she once had of recapture. Telling her a stick was a ‘sword’ and showing her how to swing it properly - because as soldiers play fighting had to be done properly, or so they had told her - was the only solution Dutch could think of originally. 

Honestly, at this point they also had a lot of fun getting hit by her, and she had fun pretending to do battle with monsters. It wasn’t like she could hit them with the sticks hard enough to really hurt.

Now was not really the time to be playing though, as there was rumor of a Yautja hunting nearby. That rumor was why they had set up camp here two days ago and hashed out a plan. She would be quite safe while left here as she was a child and weaponless - another reason for the stick fighting as it was a _stick_ and not something a predator would see as a threatening weapon. It might stick to get whacked by it but it was more of a defense against humans than aliens for her sake. 

The team would be moving out in two hours and this secluded camp would be perfect for her to stay in alone. Alone was also likely to be safer for her than with someone as a trained man might incite an alien attack. Even if a predator did happen upon this place if she was alone, they’d only find a small child and move on. Dutch was more than a little grateful for their code of honor in this case as it indicated that his daughter would be safe from them.

He supposed that it would be alright to let her play a little bit for now while the rest of the team began to fill in and shovel down the rest of the powdered eggs. Going over the plan was fairly simple, everyone knew what to do once there but he wanted to go over the facts and details one final time before leaving, adding in any new information they’d been given which had been nothing more than one more body having been found.

It made Dutch suspicious that this hunter was only killing one man every few days, every few towns. It indicated to him that the hunter was hanging about and killing leisurely rather than hunting as per usual. It was confident that it wouldn’t be in turn hunted or that if it were, it could take them. “A trap,” He said suddenly and all eyes turned to him. “It feels like a trap. Be extra wary.” 

“Why do you say that, Dutch?” Angus asked from where he stood, forcing Compton to have a third serving of eggs even though the younger man begged for no more. Next to him was an open folder he was looking at, pictures of people in white lab coats on each page, not something they really noted. Sure they took notice that scientists were being killed, but they were all long retired from different labs and studies. Dutch was far more worried about the alien anyway.

“It’s taunting us. Killing to lure us out and to find it. The monster is not really hunting the men but killing them and making sure we know what is doing the killing.”

Running from a fight - especially one such as this - was never something Dutch considered. Postponing maybe but not out right giving up and leaving. Yet right now he was feeling like he needed to check on his daughter, scoop her up, and retreat with her. This entire situation felt wrong and he did not like it. He had little choice though, abandon the mission for the corrupt OWLF to try and take over, or go in knowing it was a trap and hope for the best.

“It’s time,” Angus finally said and closed the file, something about it seemed off too but he couldn’t pinpoint it. The team put their dishes in a tub to be washed upon return and began to head out.

Standing by the flap of the tent Dutch watched as each man left and Angus stopped by his side, giving him a look. “You feel it too?” Dutch asked the man who was his closest friend. Angus grimaced and nodded, glancing around the camp as the men armed up.

“I do, something about these victims feel familiar but I cant place it.”

“Compton, I know you were looking forward to this mission as it was to be your first,” Dutch went up to the young man, after leaving Angus - he opened the file a final time to look through-, who upon hearing and understanding his words grimaced.

“You want me to stay behind. Is it because of the peculiarity of the situation?”

“Yes and no.” Looking around Dutch spotted his child who was whacking Brand’s leg with her stick. The man would have a bruise or two for sure but the mountain just laughed at her. And reached down, to shove her back and hold her back like that, she swung wildly forgoing training with laughter at this new game.

“Ah, I understand. A mission far more important than the alien.” Compton chuckled and Dutch looked at the man, something about him was suddenly making the man’s eyes narrow in suspicion. Perhaps his paranoia about the predator was getting the best of him and he was letting it leak into his thoughts about the man. Compton was new after all and this was supposed to be his first mission with the team.

Dutch almost backed out, saying that he was going to ask Brand to stay too but stopped as his daughter took notice of him. “Papa!” Her cry had him turning towards her as she ran to him. Arms wide as if asking for a hug and he kneeled as she got close. Grabbing her under her tiny arms and standing up fast he then tossed her high into the air. She squealed and her arms flailed as she free fell for a moment before he caught her and held her close, hugging the tiny body tightly enough to be felt but not crushing her. “You’ll be back tonight, right papa?”

“Ja, meine Liebe.” Dutch told her softly and left Compton behind as he walked, holding her with one arm. She was so small and light that she easily sat on his forearm and held around his neck. He wondered if she would ever put on weight and get to a healthy bmi, but he also knew that it was unlikely with what had ahppened to her. “Compton will be staying here with you. This alien is different than the others, I want him here to keep an eye on you.” Dutch felt her tense and he looked at her frown.

“Papa, I don’t like the way he looks at me. The scientists looked like him.” Dutch paused to look back towards the man and looked him over scrupulously. Put him in a white lab coat, take a few pounds of muscle off, and he would be a dead ringer for the dead scientist that she had been locked up with. She was right and he didn’t like that it had taken him so long to see it too. Quite odd to suddenly be seeing it now, but this explained some of her reactions around the man. It was off putting to realize it but it also waylayed his worries, that must be why he had been getting the paranoid feelings about Compton.

“It is fine.” Dutch pulled her close and rubbed their noses together, eliciting a giggle and getting her to smile again. “He just looks like them, he’s not them.”

“Can no one else stay instead, papa?” Her voice was a soft whisper and again he was tempted to give in. Brand would always eagerly spend time with her if asked, he had a daughter of his own and Kat seemed to fill the void that had been left behind when his wife divorced him and took the girl who knows where.

“Dutch! Reports of another body having been found, this one is fresh from the same place as the last.”

“It’s escalating.” Dutch growled and put his daughter down, patting her head as she frowned up at him. “Compton will watch over you, we might go now.” Even so something plagued at the back of his mind. Something he needed to worry about later as he needed to focus now. Arming himself he didn’t notice as his Daughter clutched her stick tighter and looked nervously at Compton. 

He was nice enough of a man, she supposed, but he was awfully touchy of her when given an opportunity. She never told papa about the time she was bathing and he ‘accidentally’ came in. He was slow to leave, eyes lingering on her, and she felt just as dirty and gross as when the scientist had looked her over after their experiments. She needed to try one more time, she supposed. Maybe telling papa about the looks the man gave her would help. She remembered how her mama used to tell her about how if a man looked at her wrong she should not hide it least he hurt her. “Papa, there’s something I gotta tell you. Mr. Compton-“ 

But her Papa didn’t hear her as he began shouting at the men. Brand looked at her and saw the look on her face, seeing how she nervously glanced at Compton, clutched her tiny stick as if it would protect her, and he once again saw the tiny girl they had rescued from that observatory. As he boarded the chinook, he grabbed a computer that was near and decided the hour flight would be more than enough time to look into Compton’s background again. He knew there were blacked out sections and it was about time he uncovered those.

Katherine watched as they all left her behind and felt her breathing pick up. It felt like she was with the scientists once more, not becuase of the experimentation but because of the danger that was suddenly in the air. It was like when she was put into the maze with the black floor that turned a bright red with heat, it felt like ice under her bare feet at first but she’d learned quickly that it would heat up, that the redder it was the hotter it was. She had to run, and run fast, or she would be trapped, burning the longer she was in there. Once the chopper - she didn’t know the real name for it - was out of sight a hand touched her shoulder and she looked up at Compton in terror. 

He had a firm grip, his thumb stroking, and she felt sick. “Here I thought going on my first mission would be good, but getting to stay behind is far better of a prize I think.” Compton leaned down to speak in her ear, his voice low in case there was any sort of hidden listening device he didn’t know about yet. ‘Ever cautions, never caught’ was his motto.

Papa might be mad at her for this, but he was the one that had given her the stick for protection. It made her feel safe and she understood it. Sure they called it play but she knew it was so that she would never be weak again. With the little training she’d had she wasn’t good enough yet to actually hurt the man, but she could whack him in the temple hard enough as he leaned over her. 

The hit was solid and she felt it in her hands but it was a good sign as he fell back with a cry of pain. Taking off running she darted into the woods. She knew that Compton would be after her quickly and he was a decent tracker one of the reasons papa took him onto the team. What she needed was to hide or find somewhere too small for him to follow. 

Within a few minutes she felt like she was lost, panting, and looking around with fear as tears fell. She could hear him calling to her and it scared her further, making her panic slightly. He was close, but unable to see her just yet. Above her a tree creaked and looking up she saw bright yellow eyes looking at her from an invisible man. 

An invisible man? That’s like the stories papa told her of the aliens he hunted. 

Compton was tramping closer and she decided she was more afraid of the man, than the invisible monster. Running towards the tree trunk she tried to reach the lowest branch but at seven years old just could not jump high enough. As she made a final jump, reaching up in a futile attempt, something grabbed her arm and in her shock she let go of her protective stick. At first she was afraid it was Compton but she could still hear the angry soldier behind her, promising if she just came out to play nothing that happened needed to be told to her papa. 

The invisible hand that encompassed her entire forearm tightened and she was hauled up into the tree. Then the thing climbed and set her in a branch. “Stay,” it rasped at her before the branch shifted and it jumped heavily to the ground. Using the noise it purposefully drew Compton’s attention. When the man was below the tree she watched horrified. He was going to find her! 

She knew her papa’s men could climb so she stayed as silent as possible, hoping Compton wouldn’t look up even though she knew he would have nowhere else to look as there were no other tracks around. The man scanned the ground throughly and as he came to the conclusion she feared, he looked up. “How the hell did you get all the way up there?” He grumbled. “If you don’t come down now, I will tell your father about you hitting me.”

She was afraid but she saw the air waver behind Compton and felt a familiar sense of bravado. Back in the labs, when the alien had killed the scientist that liked to hit her, she had stolen the keycard intending to use it in her own escape. Yet seeing the aliens distract the scientist had her thinking she could be the one to save everyone and she let them out. “No!” Even if she had ended up locked in a cage with scary bugs all around and a dead scientist for a day, “If- if you don’t go away I’ll tell papa about you watching me naked.” Compton's face scrunched up in anger. 

“Like hell you will. I’ll tear your tongue out before that happens.”

Compton jumped up and grabbed the branch she had been unable to. His one hand held it but before he could reach the other up, there was the sound of chittering and blood splashed on the tree. Something had trisected Compton’s arm and he was screaming, holding the bleeding stump. An alien shimmered into existence above the man, feet on either side of the man's hips and Compton looked up horrified as he realized what was happening. 

He had been spared a first encounter by being left behind, yet that’s exactly what he was doomed to. A first and final encounter as he was vastly under prepared and had no means of fighting. Gods he was here chasing a seven year old child not intending to fight one of the deadliest hunters!

The predator reached down with a growl. Fingers pushed into the screaming man's mouth while it put a large foot onto his stomach. Katherine couldn’t look away even as she realized what the alien was about to do. Compton screamed louder as the alien pulled slowly then with a hard tug. He tore the man's skull right off his neck. There was a disconcerting sensation of how utterly simple and easy that was to Katherine. The alien just popped his head off like a child tugging a cellar spiders leg off. It roared proudly at its kill and then climbed a tree opposite hers to put the skull into a mesh bag it had hanging from a branch. The alien looked at her and purred, reaching a hand out towards her.

Katherine stayed right where she was watching it and it cocked it’s head as if contemplating, trying to figure out if she was truly afraid or just not understanding. “Come.” It growled. “Trust. Safe.” She looked at it, then down at the dead man below her, and looked pointedly back at it. “Honorable! Would not hurt pup. Ooman, dishonorable. Was going to hurt pup.”

Hesitantly she shifted and looked the masked monster over. She had memories of beings like this, scalley mottled skin, but naked. Not even wearing undies like she had been allowed while captured and they certainly hadn’t had armor or weapons like this one did. Other than that this monster looked a lot like those from back then. Even if this one was different from _her_ monster, the one that had given her food and promised to return. Hers had been pale with black spots. This one was green and brown making her think of a crocodile.

“I don’t want to fall.” She finally said softly before beginning to crawl extremely slowly across the branch towards him.

“Will catch.” She went as far as she could and the branch dipped worrisomely. “Jump, will catch.” He urged and a small whimper escaped her before she shakily stood and flailed, nearly falling but she saw the alien tensing, ready to jump. With a deep breath she closed her eyes and leapt as far as she could towards him.

It was not very far of a jump by her and nowhere near the other tree, but strong arms wrapped around her and caught her before jerking hard as he grabbed a branch, purring loudly as she cuddled close, afraid. “Brave pup.” He spoke oddly proudly at her even though her jump had been completely a failure and she looked up, far less afraid of this alien hunter than she had been of Compton.

“You said you would catch me.” She mumbled and breathed deeply of the heavy pine scent that clung to the alien. It was a soothing smell and she put her head on his pectoral to rest. “Not very brave of me knowing I would be safe.” His purr picked up a notch and she figured he was happy to know she trusted him even though he had killed a man in front of her.

“Bring pup home.” He told her and pulled himself up with one arm, swinging to wrap his legs around the branch then hanging upside down, holding her in an iron grip. He was searching for a branch elsewhere to grab which could hold his weight as she weighed practically nothing. Letting his legs fall as he held the branch once more he swung twice before letting go and landing heavily in the next tree. She was in awe at his ability to jump from tree to tree while holding her and she began to laugh at the sensation of flying through the air. Childishly she nuzzled into his chest to hide her laughter but his own rumbling had her laughing louder.

When he finally landed with her it was at the edge of the camp. The alien scanned around before strutting in as if he owned the place, not a care in the world as he carried her. “No oomans. Where is sire and carrier?” He moved towards where he could smell their food stores, something unpleasant came from the tent like plastic eggs. He figured if need be she could scrounge up something edible from here even if she gave no indication of hunger.

“Papa is out hunting… you?” She tilted her head in confusion as she suddenly realized that her papa’s quarry was right here and not wherever he was. So then, what was her papa hunting if the alien was here and not there? The alien froze mid step while looking at her. Some kind of realization seemed to strike him and he purred a bit louder.

“Ooman child from laboratory.” He suddenly said before excitedly tapping away at the gauntlet on the arm she wasn’t sat on. He chittered quickly almost like he was talking to one of his own kind before speaking to her once again. “Was experiment too. Youngblood, now blooded. Ta’roga look for you. You safe so we leave.”

“Ta- row-guh?” She struggle to say and he chuckled. Repeating the name for her but slower with harsher sounds. “T’ row k’ ah.” She said it slowly, forcing the sounds out and he nodded. “Ta’roga is the one who gave me food?” She hoped that was Ta’roga as she had remembered him the most clearly. There had been another that she had vaguely taken notice of too, the one in the cage across from her hunter. That one had torn a leg off of someone, the scientist that liked to hit her. “I saw him when papa came for me. I knew he came back just like he promised!” The sound of the craft her father and team had left in suddenly sounded far closer than she was expecting it to.

“Is safe, stay.” He told her and disappeared before her very eyes. It was amazing to see the electricity emitted from the mesh suit he wore as he faded out of sight. There was a slight distortion in the air before she lost it, but still she could hear him as he ran. Then there was nothing to hear as he quieted his steps and went into the trees. He was long gone by the time the team landed. Her papa didn’t even wait for the craft to touch down before leaping from it with a snarl and scooping her up.

“Where is he? Where is that man?”

“Papa?” She turned her head to look up at her father who was looking around, trying to find either the alien or Compton she wasn’t sure.

“Where is that bastard?” Brand snarled as he jumped out after her father, landing harsher than the more experienced man but just as able bodied as ever. Already he was moving off, scouting their own camp and hoping he would be the one to find and shoot Compton right between the eyes.

“Katherine, where is William?” Angus was out after the carrier actually landed and he was glancing around as he stood behind her in a protective manner. “It’s not safe to be around him, we found something out. Where is he?”

She hesitated as she looked from one furious face to the next. The entire team was piling outand scouting now. Katherine blinked as she realized that they must have learned that Compton was watching her, touching too often, and far too interested in the young child. Then she looked towards the forest and hummed. “Don’t know. He went into the woods. But papa says don't go into the woods without him, so I stayed here.” Tiny arms wrapped around her Papa’s head and she laid a sloppy kiss on him. “Is the mission done? Is papa and team back?”

“Yes.” Brand took her from her father’s arms after he finished his search and led her away as her Papa and the team shifted their interest towards the woods. “They will go search for Compton now. The OWLF can have this hunt from us. We would rather come back to you anyway.” That wasn’t completely true, they had turned around and left the hunt to the OWLF upon someone’s hacking of the sealed documents in Compton’s past. Accusations that never came to fruition in other countries of the man molesting children had them turning around immediately. But if Katherine was safe then she did not need to know.

“Oh, can I take a bath then? I wanna look pretty for Papa!” Brand chuckled and set her down.

“Go ahead and get your clothes, I’ll warm the water for you.” She darted off as he started a fire and boiled water for the child. It would have two buckets of cold water and one boiled and she would have a nice warm bath. The only one ever afforded a warm bath. He glanced back and froze at what was on the back of her tiny shirt.

Dead center was a large - too large to be human - hand print. Five fingers that all seemed to come to an end in a very sharp point. If he didn't know better he would say it was an alien hand print even though the print itself was a deep scarlet in color, bleeding out into a darker brownish stain as it dried up.

Brand may or may not have taken the dirty shirt of hers that night, hiding it away so that none of the rest of the team - least of all her father- could risk finding it. He also may or may not have tossed it into the fire when on watch later that night so that no evidence of Compton’s demise or whom Brand assumed to be her alien savior was left. Sure they would he on double patrol for a while even when they left until they gave up on Compton, but for once _if_ an alien fucker _had_ come into their camp and killed one of their own, he was going to just allow it, no retaliation.

Hell, if given the opportunity he would even thank the asshole for it.

Ch 1: 2007; ~~Sugar Coating MAPs~~ Sorry, i miss wrote the title, let me fix it.  
Ch 1: 2007; Sugar Coating Pedophiles


	3. Ankle Biting Pests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a Day before Hell :)

Ch 2: 2008; Ankle Biting Pests

Katherine ate her powdered eggs frowning at her father and friends, her tiny brows pulled toggether turning it into a scowl. They had a mission and they were leaving even if she really didn’t want them to. A new alien, in a new village, and they didn’t understand where her sudden hate for the deaths of the aliens had come from. Seeing as she had never told them what really happened with Compton, they couldn’t understand why every mission they went on started and ended with her sobbing for the life of the alien.

Brand, she thought, figured it out. KNowing her shirt was gone from that day, and he wasn’t concerned in the least about the man ever returning. Going as far as to snort when she told her papa she was scared. He definitely knew but was not telling ehr father or the rest of the team. Her paranoia about it had faded a long time ago, Brand was her best friend! He wouldn’t tell her papa her secrete. Sure she wouldn’t verbalize it to Brand but they both knew he knew and that was enough for her.

Her best friend, her closest ally, and the man that while wasn’t her godfather, was her second godfather. Her father had to explain that it meant if he died, Angus would be her caretaker, and if Angus and him died, Brand would. He had told ehr the list of the entire team then added on a new name. A shiny name she hadn’t herald before but liked the ring to it. 

Devlin.

Looking once again at the packing up team she thought about her original problem again. Perhaps if she just told them about Compton, about the gator alien that had saved her, and about the alien from the laboratory, maybe then they would accept that she understood these ‘monsters’ so much. She related to the aliens and while Brand thought he understood he really didn’t. He thought it was due to Compton, nothing about the laboratory. No one liked to talk about that time either so she couldn't bring it up.

Especially after Compton just disappeared never to be seen again - not even a body - they had assumed he realized she wasn’t falling for his trick and he heard the craft coming back early. He had bolted and assumed a new identity to hide from them was what everyone thought. But they also didn’t want to remind her of her past so they didn’t like to bring any of it up.

She had mentioned to her father that an alien probably got him. Considering their line of work she figured her father might agree but her father had chuckled, promised no aliens were around, and that Compton had gone AWOL. The whispered late night talk she often heard was about what they all thought really happened to him. The last of the talk about him had ended when she boldly went up to the fire around 2 am, announced he’d had an arm cut off by an alien then his head torn off while his body was hidden. They figured she’d rather him be dead than alive somewhere so they dropped it completely. The exact opposite of what she had been trying for actually.

“I’m going to hit the shitter.” Brand told Katherine as mid day came around. He trusted her and she knew if she yelled he would come running pants be damned. Bored, she left the canteen tent and sat down at the chairs outside. They encircled the fire pit around the banked fire. A book was in her lap and she stared at it blankly, heaving a sigh as she couldn’t focus. Papa had said she needed to read today. This was the ‘school work’ she should be doing, work her father had told Brand to make sure she did, but she neither wanted to nor had the focus to. 

Besides, Brand’s ‘time in the shitter’ would give her an hour or so. Whatever he did in there couldn’t be what he said it was. No one but him took that long in there! Scowling and squinting towards where he had left - needing to go out into the woods, dig a hole, and cover it - hoping she wouldn have more than an hour. Unlikely but hopeful.

As she stared up towards the trees, she saw a branch that was bent as if something heavy was sitting on it. That branch had not looked like that earlier as she had stared at it afterfirst sitting down a few moments ago. Not to mention below it a few leaves just finished settling on the ground. Standing up the young eight year old looked towards Brand’s shitter direction and chewed her lip. She _should_ call for the man and let him know, her father had instructed her on what to look for when aliens came so she could sound an alarm or get to safety. But she didn’t want the alien to get hurt. 

Instead of following the sound training the entire team had drilled into her, she walked towards the tree and looking up waited for any sign of what could be in the tree. The gold eyes of a mask flashed at her. “Hi. You shouldn’t be here. Papa and his men hunt and kill your kind. Shoo, before they come home.” Maybe if she sooed the alien it would go and survive. She really did not want her father to kill it. Or Brand. 

In the tree the alien trilled and clicked loudly, laughing, and worriedly she looked behind her at Brand’s direction. There was still no sight or sound of the man and she was terrified he would just show back up far before his usual time. Looking back up she watched as the branch bounced. The alien had moved while she’d looked away and she scowled. He had just ditched her without a goodbye or thanks! “That’s rude!” Her hiss was louder than intended and with a pout she stomped back to her chair to sit and do her school work. 

A loud thump nearby had her looking towards where some leaves were resettling again. The air shimmered and before her stood an alien that made her heart skip. “No...way…” Him-! It was him! The alien that had given her food, protected her from the scientist in the cage, and promised to return! He was here! He had returned back then and he came again!

Standing up her book fell, landing lightly at her feet as she tried to figure out what to do when she wanted to do so much at once. The alien reached up and removed its mask as the air behind it shifted, there was a second one with it, watching his back. He looked different than she had remembered. Honestly he was giant like she thought but he wasn’t naked and that jarred her into the now again. He had black metal armor that seemed to absorb any light that hit it and he had leather accessories. The most notable to her was his leather underwear that had a long flap in the front, then as he kneeled and held out a hand, the studded leather that guarded his knuckles and back side of his hand, she knew what he wanted and he knew what she needed help focusing on. 

“It- it’s you!” She spoke softly then ran forward, arms tossed wide and instead of taking his hand she threw herself at him and wrapped her tiny arms around his large neck, pinching a few of his taylu as she hugged him. Her face was pressed into his long dark tresses and as he held her - one large hand covering nearly the entirety of her back, the other holding her legs as he stood - she sniffled. “You came back for me, I saw you! And you came back now! I knew you’d come back! I believed in you!”

Ta’roga chuckled, glad the child actually remembered him and had not sounded any alarms as he had worried. She had actually more than remembered him, she was ecstatic to see him. His promise had stuck with her not just for those few days, but these past few years. Had he never returned he knew that she would have waited for him until her dying breath. 

Purring he touched the side of his crest to the top of hers, cheek flap pressed against her forehead. Only to his own young had he shown interest or any kindness such as this and he decided, as a weak little Ooman that had _survived_ she deserved it. After all one day she would be his so he had to endear her to him early on. It would not be a good life with a mate who openly detested you.

“You bigger.” He strode out of the camp with her in his arms, he wasn’t going to risk the large human returning to their sounds. It might distress her to see the man killed and Ta’roga did not want that. He had decided that he would not hunt humans any longer, the hunt of the scientists last year his final human hunt even if his student chose to hunt humans in the future. He would allow others to hunt as was their right, just as it was his right to choose not to. 

Ta’roga figured that if he was to take this small one as his own when she was bigger he doubted she would like to see the skulls of her own kind upon his trophy wall. No matter if they held the place of highest honors to him or not. That was not here nor now as the girl was still far too young to claim so he was here now to visit her, remind her of who he was, and let her get accustomed to him.

“Of course I’m bigger! I’m eight now! Before I was a baby! Five!” He chuckled at her enthusiasm at ageing a measly three years. She would be awed to learn he was in his fourth, nearly fifth, century. 

“Glad survived.” Turning his head he ran his tusks through her hair, combing the knots out as he moved his mandibles and breathed in her scent. He tried not to think of just what this meant to his people, his culture. Instead he focused on what was here in his arms, she did not reek of chemicals like most humans did, living off grid with her sire and his hunting party. “Heard from Twei, bad blood attacked. He wishes gift you skull in years, when home.”

“Skull?”

“Bad bloods skull, yours.” Ta’roga purred and tried to distract herewith a new question, preferably something that would be easier to communicate with as english was not the easiest on his throat. “What pup’s name?”

“Oh! I’m Katherine!” He grumbled lightly at her name, something hard to pronounce with his lipless mouth and forked tongue. “But everyone calls me Kat.”

“Cccatttt.” He growled out slowly and rumbled approvingly. Something he _could_ pronounce. “Ta’roga.” His own proffered name made her giggle.

“Ta’roga.” She mimicked his mimikry and he was surprised to hear how well she pronounced it already. Did she have an affinity for their language? If she did that would endear her to the species further. “The green one told me your name. I was happy to know you made it and papa never caught you.”

Ah that’s right, her sire was a hunter of hunters, the bane of his race's existence at this point with how many of them he had killed and how much of their technology he managed to retrieve. Another reason he would not hunt the humans anymore. “Sire will not kill me, do not hunt Oomans.” Anymore.

Setting her down he patted her head then pulled something from a leather strap on his hip and handed it to her. It was her stick from last year. The one lost when the hunter had pulled her into the tree. “My stick!” She accepted it as he held it out to her and he nodded. 

“Can fight, sei-i?” Looking up at him she nodded. “Show.” He patted his chest and she looked around hesitantly. “Will no hurt Kat. No threat, will train _be_ threat.”

“Papa says that if I see your kind I should not try to fight. I should be weak and cower. Then I’ll survive.”

Ta’roga growled. “No. Never cower. Stand tall, proud, honorable. Yautja will not kill you, you are Ta’roga’s. Arbiter’s.” Kneeling down he wrapped his hand over hers holding the stick. “You kill Yautja in Ta’roga name. Yautja will not attack you for it. Ta’roga protect. Train now. Show Ta’roga smart.”

Still she hesitated, chewing her lip and Ta’roga looked around, seeing Thwei standing around cloaked he chattered at the blooded warrior. ‘Go, watch the male Ooman. Do not kill him, alert me if he comes this way.’ Thwei clicked back that he acknowledged then took off back to the camp. 

“Only Ta’roga here. Kat no fear Ta’roga.” She looked around, noting the other had left and could hear him shifting further away in the trees. Her shoulders relaxed and she nodded. 

“Okay.” Her voice squeaked some as she spoke but not much, just an indication that in a few years Perhaps in about five or six he figured, she would be going through changes and becoming a woman. She adjusted her grip and Ta’roga stood tall again, she watched him critically and he let her have a few moments to take his looks in, trying to figure out where to attack.

Then she nodded, coming to a conclusion. She moved carefully, watching as he just stood there, before daring forward, he didn’t bother to move knowing her attacks would be nothing more than sting like a stubbed claw. For her right now he was far too muscled, too large, and too heavy to - she hit him three times making him yip like a startled pup. Ta’roga was suddenly glad he sent his student away as he had made his own mistake, he had underestimated her.

She had attacked his hip, the highest place she could reach in a downward swing, then in a slashing motion his knee which throbbed more than stung, and she went to her own knees as she swiped up at his ankles. THat had been the worst as she had hit the bone and he found himself unintentionally shifting his weight to his un-attack foot just to relieve the stinging. She jumped back quickly, the attack only taking seconds and he hissed softly to himself to hide 

“Good.” He made sure to tell her so that she wouldn’t be afraid of retaliation. “Kneeling no good, too easy to kick. Ta’roga kick, break Kat neck.” He motioned her forward pointing to the grown. “Kneel.” She did and he slowly lifted his foot, the bracer on his sandals touched her chin. “Would break jaw, snap neck, throw, one kick.” He pointed to where she had been before, urging her to return there. “Most Yautja have armor on ankles.” He probably should put some leather on so this ankle biter doesn’t go for them again next time. “Ankles not worth attacking. Knee good, very good.

Like this he urged her to continue attacking, jabbing rarely as the sticks were not made for that but other weapons could be so she should know of it. He worked her to sweating, giving her his own canteen to drink from as she got thirsty. She was well trained, but far too weak. Her sire was coddling her it seemed, teaching her what to do but not really building her strength up. When he decided to call it as Thwei reported the human was slowly scouting, trying to find the girl, he kneeled down and held his hand up. 

She put her tiny one in his, admiring the size difference. Her hands had grown from the chubby little ones before and were linger and lither. She would do good with a spear he felt, figuring he should commission a combi stick her size when she was older. Perhaps he can get it to split into two so she could shift between a staff and dual wielding sticks. Curling his claws forward he held her hand, hearing the warning from Thwei that the human headed his way, armed, and racing into the woods. 

It was time.

“Present for Kat.” He turned her arm so the tender underside was up and he raked a claw deep into the flesh. He put a small speck of something into her wound and then wrapped it with a cloth from his pouch. “Can always find. Will track, know when in trouble.” She looked up at him with her mouth opening in an ‘O’ shape, understanding what he meant. Then he placed a little soft gelled thing in her hand. “Communications. Call Ta’roga often. Can talk through training.” Standing back up he grabbed his mask from where it hung on his hip and put it back on, looking at her one final time before disappearing and taking off into the trees. She followed the displaced leaves before hearing Brand calling for her and she hurried off to find the soldier.

Brand didn’t seem to notice she had her long lost stick now. He just admonished her for leaving and not doing her work. Her father would be back in a few hours and they had a lot of catching up to do if they wanted her to be finished before Dutch returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder for anon commenters I reply to every comment! Even yours :)
> 
> A reminder to all commenters, the longer the comment, the longer my reply to you will be. It makes my day to see your comments!


	4. Bear With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katherine is training with her father when she makes a mistake. Dutch really needs to learn his daughter is not another of his soldiers and she's just learning. Mistake now are expected and used as a learning experience, but his words had not needed to be that cold. While emotionally hurt Kat runs off and finds herself facing danger, she can only pray for her papa to save her in time.

Ch 3: 2010 Part 1; Bear With Me

“Hng! Hng! Hng!” Katherine moved swiftly, the staff in her small but caloused ten year old hands slicing through the air at an invisible enemy triple her size. Her training today was just like any other day, fighting an alien predator she neither saw nor wanted to fight. She would much prefer just talking with them, she doubted her father ever tried so she thought it might work better than fighting. Sure the aliens loved fighting, the hunt, and the sport of it all but maybe just talking with them would work. 

Her father applauded her softly, congratulating her a final time on her movement, the rapid fire sequences she could keep up with, and her finishing swipe up, meant to knock a man back or break an alien tusk. He kept shouting what her enemy was doing and she’d flit around, Dutch was more than a little happy to learn how fast his daughter could dance around in a fight like this. In the clearing she was able to use her staff as if it were hitting the alien and giving her the opportunity to survive an encounter against them. Maybe not win, but survive.

“Good! Very good, Katherine.” He called out and she paused only to have her father heave a let down sigh. “I never said it was over. The alien just killed you for turning your back to it. The blades in their gauntlets would be right through you, as it lifted you up on them. You can never turn your back.” 

Her large smile at her father’s praise fell away swiftly and her lower lip puckered out, quivering as she tried to not show her upset. “But... you said I did good Papa.”

“You did, until you turned your back.” Dutch pinched his nose as terrible images of a nine foot tall monster skewered her and held her high with a roar. “Keep at your practise, I will go make dinner.” She watched as her father’s back retreated towards the cabin he had built for them. Her emotions going haywire in an instant.

Since 2008 when most of his team was annihilated, he had seemed to have changed. Dutch was filled with regret and couldn’t stand to look at himself in the mirror, especially as he had physically changed, losing some weight and bearing a scar that would forever remind him of his lost friends. So when he got into his worries about losing the only person he had left, he was harsher than before. Not cruel but he didn’t treat her at those times like the child she was.

Katherine did not doubt that her father loved her very much and was honestly proud of her, but because he was harsh in his love at times like now it hurt. Instead of letting her have her praise, her win, he had chastised her for a simple misunderstanding. She had assumed the fight was being called to an end and he instead of accepting tossed her to a cruel fate.

Had he been more clear that he was not saying her imaginary battle was over she would never have acted like it was, would never have turned her back. She made a simple childish mistake in thinking her father’s praise meant she had finished his feigned battle and turned away. Had there really been a person or enemy there she would have known very much that it was not over and never let her guard down.

Sniffling again she wiped at her teary eyes and held her staff close. She didn’t want to train anymore. She wanted to cry and get a big warm hug from Brand or Angus but she knew neither of those were possible. Angus had died with the rest of them in 2008 and Brand had left to join an anti-terrorism team under someone named Devlin that her father spoke highly of. “You never tell Devlin he messed up.” 

She didn’t think that her retreating father would hear. In fact she had not even meant to say it aloud. Her thoughts had slipped past her lips and were spoken a tad too loudly. Her father paused, tilting his head and turned towards her.

“You are right, I do not. That is because he knows better than to turn his back on an enemy.” The harsh tone took Dutch by surprise and he wondered why he had spoken as he had. Then he knew it had been much of a mistake to say those words as the tone the moment they left his mouth. Katherine looked… she was just as mortified, it was like his words had been a physical hit to her. 

Looking at the girl, with her agape mouth and shiny watery eyes, it struck him suddenly that he was treating her wrong. He was acting as he might with Devlin or one of his team if they were training and not as he should a child in training. She was not an adult, she was not a soldier, the enemy was one of his making; not hers. “Katherine,” He took a step towards his daughter, taking note of how she clutched her staff white knuckled, how red her face was getting from holding back her emotions, and the tears that made her small eyes shine.

His tiny little daughter was so old in mentality. Holding herself together when Dutch had known grown men wouldn’t. She shouldn’t have to be like this, fighting for her life against invisible aliens (imaginary or not), holding her tears at bay, accepting harsh words from her own father. He had made some kind of error while raising her, he treated her like a soldier - one of his own when he really should have been treating her like someone to be protected and cherished.

Dutch didn’t have the chance to even try to apologize, ask for a hug, and properly compliment her efforts and how far she has come. Justas he had taken a step towards her, a hand lifting to try and beckon her over, she bolted away from him and into the woods. “Katherine!” If he had thought she was fast while in the clearing, he had clearly been mistaken. The way she darted through the woods he lost sight of her in moments. “God damn it,” He growled to himself, not loud enough for her to hear but loud enough for himself to know. “Katherine, I’m sorry, come back!” 

There was no reply to his cry so he stopped in his blind pursuit, listening as carefully for her as he did the aliens, and he heard nothing. No sound of leaves crunching, branches snapping, not even her labored breath. After two hours of training and suddenly running into the woods as fast as she had, he had thought she’d have lost some speed, her ability to stay as silent as she was, even the maintenance of her breathing; but his daughter seemed to have lost nothing after the long day of training. Another curse escaped the man before he returned home to the cabin in need of preparation. 

His daughter knew these woods just as well as he did, she was good at hunting and tracking because he taught her to be, and she could protect herself; but she didn’t know the real danger. There were bad people that were after him, OWLF factions just like the one that had taken her when she was a child. No one knew just where he was but they had a general idea, they suspected he was in South America again. This deep in the woods the Predators didn’t hunt often, but along the edges and the small towns that dotted the border has had sparse hunts in the past. Nothing recent, and never anything big like the hunters he usually went after, but he didn’t want to risk it, he couldn't risk it. 

She was his everything and now she was running from him.

Opening a chest in the cabin he pulled out a bullet proof vest, it would do little to protect him from hunters but he knew aliens were not his only enemies, filling the pockets with extra amo along with supplies he might need - such as a fire starter. A semi automatic rifle, not much of a threat for hunters, again, but that was not what was his main concern at the moment. A large bowie knife was strapped to one leg and a pistol the other. 

Not much artilerary but it would do to protect him from men and beasts if not aliens. Exiting the cabin he returned to where he had last seen Katherine and squatted down, touching the ground and cursing that his small daughter was so light on her feet. One of the many peculiarities he had noticed about her. She left a light trail but it would be hard to follow as it could easily be swept away.

A heavy sigh escaped him once again and he looked into the jungle that surrounded them. She had her staff and he believed her kali sticks were strapped to her thigh. He had been working with her recently to work on maneuverability even if she was packed down with supplies, supplies he had decided to forsake himself to search for her. Thinking about her mock battle he nodded. 

Yes, she had those strapped on, one on each leg as she was dual wielding and he wanted her able to move no matter what was strapped on her. Not only that but she would survive, she had the skill. He glanced at his pistol and knife, one on each leg just like her sticks. Standing up he cracked his neck and strapped his rifle over his shoulder and began to make a very slow trek into the forest.

If he didn’t find her by nightfall he would return home with the hope she had come back by then too.

.~:*:~.

If she was honest with herself, Katherine wasn’t exactly sure why she ran from her father when he had looked back at her. She had seen his eyes and knew he regretted his words and his tone. But they had still greatly hurt her, causing her chest to throb with an ache she didn’t know was possible, and she didn’t want to look any weaker in his eyes than she already had considering she was about to cry. Kat only wanted her father to be proud of her and say she was brave and strong.

Now she ran like she had five years ago through the maze in the scientists labs. Even though she knew that her mind was playing tricks on her, she swore she felt the forest ground warming up, getting to burning levels and she moved faster, nearly flying as she ran. Her heart already hurt, she did not want her feet to blister and burn, didn’t want to be poked and prodded to see how she had moved fast, why she had moved fast, how her healing was going. She wanted to be free.

Just like when Compton had attacked she was panicking, not particularly paying attention nor focusing on her surroundings. All she could think of was running, making it to the end of the maze and not feeling the heat under her feet. It felt like seconds, it felt like days, or possibly only hours before she stopped running, panting heavily as the strain caught up and she realized she couldn’t see past the tears that were still slowly leaking down her cheeks. 

All around her the forest creaked and groaned, the trees here were so tall that she could not see the tops. With the leaves as thick as small trees - or her imagination was making it that way - almost no light filtered down and she noticed just how far she had gone. This was deeper than she had ever gone when hunting with her father, deeper than she dared on her own. Never wanting to kill, her papa allowed her to say no, but he wanted her to have the skills. He taught her to track and hunt even if it was him that pulled the trigger.

A shiver ran down her back as she tried to hear her father, he had been shouting her name, running after her, but now not even the birds chirped. Home was always so lively and she could hear far better than her father. The crickets would chirp, birds beating their wings as they flew, deer galumphing as they trotted. The only sounds here she could hear was wind in a tunnel in the mountain nearby, her own heavy breathing, the humm of something like a cell phone -

A cell phone? 

Her heart pounded in her chest as she listened harder. There was definitely an electrical hum out there but it was deeper into the forest and she was not sure she wanted to go. What she did want was to go home now. But where was home? Turning slowly she couldn’t even remember which direction she had come from.

All of her landmarks were long gone. The stream she knew to follow didn’t gurgle anywhere nearby, the waterfall her father had showed her had no roar from this distance, and without being able to see the sun to figure out what direction she faced she had no idea where to go. “Papa?” Her voice cracked as she looked around, finally feeling scared like any lost child would. A branch cracked somewhere behind her and something huffed as it sniffed about.

Terrified it might be a bear or panther - she was a child and had no idea what else could be in this forest to hurt her and just assumed - Katherine again began to run. Deeper into the woods, towards the only sound she could really identify, the hum of electricity. It could be bad people, it could be another laboratory, but she knew that if she hid and stayed quiet they would never know she was there. But if she stayed here then the animal would know where she was. It would be far safer to be near something that the bear would not go to, than to stay out here.

Her arm itched as she got closer to the sound and looking down she saw a very faint red flash under her skin. A pale white scar hid most of the light that blinked and she knew it was Ta’roga’s tracking device. He had cut her arm a few years ago and put it in, promising to keep an eye on her. Did he know now where she was? Was he trying to find her? Behind her something got closer and she turned hopeful. It was Ta’roga!

Only, it wasn’t.

The black bear in front of her was covered in scars from hunters, traps, and other predators. A milky eye that saw nothing landed on her before it’s head turned and the brown eye filled with rage and anger focused. It’s lip on this side was torn and tattered from something ripping at it and she watched as it stood up on its hind legs, roaring. Looking up at it she knew that it had to stand nearly ten feet, larger than the aliens her father had her training to fight at least. Any Alien’s vital spots were lower than the bear now stood.

The staff in her hands would do nothing to help her now, if anything it was a hindrance and she backed up, her frame hitting a tree and pressing into as the bear fell to its feet again with a heavy sound. Drool dribbled out of it’s pulled back lips and she knew she couldn’t out run it, especially now that she was tired from her manic bolt before. She did the only thing she could think to do.

“Pa- pa?” Her voice was a whimper too low for anything to hear. 

She didn’t dare break eye contact with the monster as she saw from the corner of her eye, the red in her arm stopped flashing. If she looked away it would attack for sure, if she looked weak it would most definitely attack. While most bears would wander off if you didn’t bother them, this one had an intelligence to it’s eyes. Her papa had taught her to just carefully back away and leave it be, never run, never antagonize it. Papa had so many rules for different animals and those were some about bears. But this - she knew it couldn’t be treated as a ‘bear’ but had to be treated like an alien predator.

The bear roared again and began to run at her, backed to a tree with nothing but what felt like a twig in her arms, she was frozen, petrified of this monster in front of her. But something landed only a few feet in front of her with a heavy thud. A body flickered into existence and the bear reared up in surprise, the being dove to the side and the bear’s swipe missed. Finally the beast decided to ignore her; it turned towards the new threat to it. Long black dreads clicked as beads shifted to make contact with each other. A cold uncaring matte black mask turned and tilted as the lifeless red eye covers took the beast in. Assessing the monster.

The alien had armor covering his shoulder, a plasmacaster mounted but not turning on. Metal plates covered half of his chest and strapped up to armor that covered his other shoulder. Black mesh shimmered as electricity sparked over it, an invisibility suit. The Yautja clenched a fist and with a flick of it’s arm two long serrated blades pressurized from the gauntlet on that wrist. A belt wrapped around his waist with a loin cloth hanging from it to cover his pelvis, armor hung on the sides to protect his outer thighs and there was soft leather that wrapped around his shins protecting them too. “Ta’roga!” She said his name in an airy breath, relief and joy making her want to cry again at the black and white alien in front of her..

He had came to save her! 

“Kat.” He growled, it almost sounded angry but she knew he was focused, like papa at times. “Climb.” He pointed a claw to the forest behind her and she quickly began to do as he told her, it was a struggle but she managed to find a tree close with branch stubs low enough that she could begin an ascent. The aliens were good at climbing and he would be able to easily get her down from wherever she went up to. The bear growled and turned to look at her as she scrambled up the tree. 

The animal knew that it’s meal was making an escape. It decided though, to focus on the alien that spread its arms wide and roared from behind the mask. Katherine paused about ten feet up to look at them, knowing this was nearly safe from the bear but just needing to see what was going on.

The bear was charging Ta’roga but her alien was swift, dancing out of the way and swiping with his blades. He cut deep and she could see that the flesh tore open, splitting wide and blood ran freely from the wound. As the bear stood up and roared again, she realized ten feet was not nearly high enough as she was about eye to eye with the beast. It was angry, it hurt, and the easy meal was climbing a tree.

Katherine climbed faster to get higher, hoping to be double the height at least by the time it would focus on her again. It’s momentary distraction afforded Ta’roga another slice of it’s tender flesh, he tried to slice it groin to neck but he failed and earned deep claw marks up his back for his effort. He roared in pain but followed the throw with a roll, immediately in a defensive crouch before the monster bear. High enough now, Kat watched as they circled each other, the bear wary and Ta’roga planning his next move.

The tree next to her creaked and looking over she saw a mottled green alien hanging from a branch with one arm, his metal sandals dug into the trunk to keep him still and he looked at her, a hand lifted in a wave for greeting and then he was watching the fight again. Looking back at the bear she sar that one of it’s back legs had been sliced deep and it was dragging. The bear wouldn’t be able to stand again and this gave Ta’roga the upper hand as he jumped high over the bears head to land on its back. One quick punch to the back of its head pushed the blades into its skull and the beast roared, trying to shake it’s attacker off before stumbling and slumping.

With a twist of his wrist and a swipe he had it’s head off and he lifted the massive skull high, bellowing out a roar of victory before dropping it onto the body for later. He would make use of this kill, fresh meat, a thick pelt for his bed, and a skull for his trophy case. A very good hunt from a worthy beast. Now, for the real problem, what was his tiny human doing so far into the forest where he was training his underling?

“Kat, hurt?” He asked as he looked up into the tree, being careful to not step on her stick she had abandoned for her climb.

“No.” Looking down at Ta’roga she could see the thick coating of green that covered his back and legs. He shouldn’t climb while hurt so she began to carefully climb down on her own, except no further than a single branch down, a large warm body pressed against her back. Letting go in her surprise she felt fear for a single moment.

“Shh.” Wrapping his arm around her he popped a ball out of his gauntlet and put it into her hand, pressing it and she could see as her hands went celar, invisible. His suit crackled and he too became impossible to see. Down below two more bears, a fraction of the size of the dead one wandered over and she watched as they sniffed and nudged at the dead one. 

“Oh,” She kept her voice very low. “It was a mama.” He had killed the mama bear like her own mother was killed. 

“No. Male, those are his mates.” Ta’roga was positive it was a male beast, he had cut it’s gut from piss covered cock to where it’s thick ribs had slowed his slice. The smaller female bears walked around for a few moments, determining their mate really was dead, and wandered back off into the forest. “They are with cubs, his legacy will live on.” Ta’roga had practiced his english and while the words were still heavily accented he could speak far better than he used to. Though this was likely as well as he was going to get.

He disengaged her invisible ball and she pressed it back into the gauntlet for him, his purr an obvious ‘thank you’. Then his arm hefted her and she held tight, feeling the warm gooey green blood sticking to her. He jumped effortlessly, twisting in the air in a show off of a flip, and landed with her cradled against him still. “Thank you for saving me, Ta’roga.” She tugged at him in a hug before letting go to grab her staff from the ground. 

“Why Kat here?” His arm swept out to motion more of the area than his literal meaning of being around.

“I got lost.” Looking down she didn’t want him to be angry with her also. 

“Why?” He moved to her and crouched down, a green coated finger hooked under her chin forcing her to look up. “No shame. Ta’roga lost many times on new planet in youth. Is way of life. Why so deep that you lost?”

“Papa was mad. He said he was disappointed and I ran from him.” That's why she was really so ashamed. Being lost only added to it. An inquisitive churr from the alien spurred her on. “We were training and he said I did good, so I stopped and then- he was mad. He said the fake enemy killed me because I turned.”

Ta’roga purred deeply and she sniffled as she looked up at him. “Sire is correct. Enemy dead is not always harmless. Yautja when die,” He held up his gauntlet, “boom.” turning his hand over he held it in a fist then let his fingers uncurl quickly. “Dead is not end of battle. End of battle is when safe. _Thin-de le'hsaun 'aloun'myin-de s' bpi-de gka-de hou-depaya_.” The words rolled off his tongue in a foreign language ans she gawped at him. It sounded oddly pretty with the purrs, trills, and clicks all mixed in. “Learn the gift of all sights, or finish the last dance of the fallen gods.”

“What does that mean?” She didn’t dare speak loudly for fear of breaking whatever this electrical, magical, feeling was.

“M-de. Only Kat knows. Everyone different. Learn it. Way of honor, of fight, of life.” He put a giant palm on her chest and she was aware of her pounding heart. She nodded in a silent promise to think over the words, learn the saying, and figure out what it means to her. She understood it’s face value, learn to fight but not be so closed minded as to not know others fight differently or be prepared to die, but what it would mean to her in her own fights was something else.

It could be about learning to see passed what the scientists had done to her, dont be stupid and forget it and risk dying becuase of it, or it could be about learning to fight with not just one weapon but many including mind as her body might not be strong. There was so much it could mean deeper that she also understood why he could not give her the answer but it would be a life of learning. He purred and she knew her silence, her young contemplation of such a heavy saying, pleased him. 

“Come, must clean kill, patch wounds, wash. Then Ta’roga bring Kat home.” Home, the way he said it felt wrong and she screwed up her eyes to watch him. He chuckled and nodded, caught in his words it seemed. “Bring to _Kat_ home, not Ta’roga home.” She nodded accepting the promise, okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 5-7 are done and ready to be posted. But I'm going to let this chapter sink in first. And the more reviews i get the more likely I'm to post~
> 
> Also before i forget again, Taylu (as you've probably guess) is what I call the dread like appendages that the predators have. My friend conned the term for a transformer that they draw and with their permission I'm plagiarizing it for the predators. Honestly they gave me permission and said go ahead. SO if any of you want to use it too you may, just make sure to reference this fic or at least that 'the author of When It Bleeds' friend made this term for the dreads.'


	5. Alien Bastard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to the last chapter's adventure.

Ch 4: 2010 pt 2; Alien Bastard

Katherine was exhausted quickly after following Ta’roga to his ship where he would deal with his kill. Sure she was eager to see his ship, see what he did with the bear, to learn as much as she could, but that would not take away just how tired she was. So he taught her. THere was a long thin knife he held up for her to look at but not touch, he cut his finger to show her just how sharp it was. This he wouldn’t let her do at this age so he skinned the bear himself. Stipping the pelt he set it aside to be better cleaned in a short while.

Then he gave her a duller knife, but still sharp, and together they cut the meat off of the bear. Keeping most of it and getting rid of the foul bits such as intestines. He could make pouches out of them but he neither needed them nor felt like it at the moment. Most of the bones were put into the waste as he only wished to keep the skull of this kill and unlike some of his fellow hunters, did not take to using such fragile things as weapons or armor.

By the end of the hour-long task, both were covered in gore and sweat. Ta’ roga brought Katherine to his bedroom shere he had an attached washroom. He carried her easily, not even feeling her weight with his wounds. She sat on his gauntletted forearm, her own tiny limbs wrapped around his neck for stability even though it was unnecessary. He had a firm hold on her and even if she fell backwards her legs were locked by his arm muscles to his chest.

Ta’roga enjoyed watching as she gawped in awe, her eyes roaming the immense room to her. There was the disposal unit right across from them as they entered, a small wash basin for quick rinses of one's hands, a wash station for full body rinsing, and a large bath that took up the middle of the floor. Around the room were more hidden compartments such as where he stored his loin cloths and drying cloths.

Her eyes strayed to the pool though and she learned it was a bath tub for soaking. The fluid was clear with a slight hint of teal in it, a medical compound he told her. It was completely safe but what was added to it would help clean and encourage wounds to heal faster. Ta’roga was eager to soak in the hopes it would soothe the ache that was setting into his muscles and the stinging of his back. 

If Katherine had grown up normal, she might have had some sense of modesty. But as it were she had been mostly raised by a bunch of men who were all too eager to go into a large locker room after a mission and shower. Wanting desperately to get the sweat and stink of wearing too much in ‘forests hotter than the devils ass crack’, they never really bothered with her. More times than not actually forgetting she was a young girl and very much should not be in a men’s locker room showering too. Of course as she got older her father demanded she wear a bathing suit so she did even if they often did not. 

Papa was never happy about that but he would always grumble about how men were disgusting in their minds and she was too young to worry about their nudity. Whatever that meant. He said when she grew interested in boys she would have to shower by herself and she had laughed and shook her head, claiming boys were gross and she had very much looked at Brand who at the time was wshowing and watching her as he listened in. He pulled at his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out at her before turning and going back to washing. 

She hadn’t got that stage yet when she lost all her friends with papa. Most to the alien huntress and Brand to Devlin’s team. Now it was just her and papa so it was okay. No more suits and no more papa worrying. Papa always made sure to remind her that when she was an adult or with other people she could not be bare.

Now with the alien she forgot her papa’s worries far too easily and stripped out of her blood and sweat soaked clothes. Crawling into the bath she couldn’t even reach the bottom and doggy paddled about, the only form of swimming she could do well as of yet. Her father was just glad she wouldn’t drown and promised to work with her to learn to swim better further on. Ta’roga huffed with his laughter at her - she had practically torn her clothes off in her eagerness to get into the tub - as he too stripped and joined her. 

Sitting on a ledge that was there, just for this purpose, he tossed his arms over the edge of the pool and sighed blissfully at the soothing warmth. His eyes stayed on her as he purred deeply enough that the water rippled about. Reaching to his side he found the panel nearby and used it to send a message to Thwei. Hunters were communal beings, contrary to what humans might think. Sure they often hunted alone, but in their home society it was rare for a hunter to be alone.

Mating, eating, training, everything was done in a group setting. So when Thwei showed up eagerly, Ta’roga gave him a pleased smile and curt nod. Kathering kept paddling around and she looked up at him, settling quickly by moving to Ta’roga and standing on one of his legs, hand on his shoulder, to watch Thwei. 

Thwei wore a different kind of loin cloth, there was no hanging bit to cover his genitals, instead his was more of a skirt that hung while leaving the front bare except for the actual login cloth bit. His cod plating kept him from being hurt there and he had an ornate belt that held it all up. Both of his legs were covered like Ta’roga’s but he instead had armor on them and his hips and thighs like his mentor were protected too. His armor while not super shiny did not matte like his teachers and he carefully removed his chest armor. Both teacher and student had armor that only covered the left side of their chest and Kat realized their hearts must be hidden and protected by it. His left shoulder armor was set down carefully along with the bit that covered his bicep, and then his gauntlets were removed. Thwei rubbed his wrists and upon seeing her purred loudly. 

The smaller things on him, such as his studded knuckle wraps, the smaller right shoulder armor, and the leather straps for under his gauntlet come off faster. When she had called him an alligator before she had been quite correct even if his green was more lime like their blood than a gator’s dark forest green. He sank just as naked into the water as Ta’roga had and as he moved to the far end crooked a finger at her, urging her to come so she did. He clicked and chirred to Ta’roga, motioning to her as he did so, and the elder gavea dismissive huff. When she made it to Thwei he tried to show her how to ‘properly’ swim and she sank instead. Both hunters decided that humans didn’t know how to swim well and that Thwei was not allowed to teach her.

Thwei had lifted her back up seconds after she had sank but upon her emergence Ta’roga was halfway across the bath, ready to save her himself if his student ahdn’t. Noticing that the girl was tired, Ta'roga finished his treach and took her from the shamed Thwei and returned to his seat while Thwei began to cleanse his taylu. Sitting back on his bench he reached for the screen and pressed something that made a second bench appear. 

Katherine stood on the ledge that had popped out and looked around. Here the water was right up to under her own pectorals. Papa said they would be breasts one day like her mama had, but she didn’t believe him as she was as flat as well- she was flatter than her papa was. “How did you get so big?” Her question had him opening an eye and she poked at the muscle on his arm. “Papa lifts heavy things to stay big.”

Across the pool Thwei said something that had Ta’roga growling at him, probably chastising or threatening to make him leave the bath. Thwei must have figured it would be smarter to be quiet because he didn’t reply and sid no more.

“Hunt, train,” Ta’roga tilted his head in thought, “carry Ooman pup. Very heavy.” He poked her sternum and she giggled while trying to hide the now poked spot. It had ticked as his claw scratched her lightly. 

“I am not, papa says I’m too little. Even though I’m a big girl now. I’m ten now and he says I’m still very little. So I know I’m not heavy.” Papa… she was worried about him and her shoulders sagged sorrowfully. The sound of purring had her blinking and looking up. Ta’roga reached out and cupped her cheek in a giant hand, keeping her from glancing at Thwei who had a higher purr than Ta’roga’s own deep one. 

“Sire is right. Kat too small but will get bigger. Train, stronger. Kat will see sire soon, after eat. Eat will help bigger.” Blinking at him she found herself smiling soon after. Her head tilting to press into the palm. It made her happy to know that Ta’roga understood and would be bringing her home.

“No one has ever had a bath with me before. You’re the first!” Deciding it was best to not talk about what made her feel sad she shifted the subject quickly. The purring paused then picked up and his lower mandibles stretched out in some kind of morbid grin. He seemed to be happy that he was a first for her in something. Thwei wisely kept his maw shut this time.

As much as Ta’roga would like to soak for a while longer, he could see her yawning and growing tired as the minutes ticked by. Standing as she was she swayed back and forth, her eyes drooped and she seemed to not be as observant as before. Thwei had come up to take a seat on the ledge on the other side of her and she didn’t notice. The pup needed to rest so that she could continue to grow and get stronger it seemed. So he got out of the bath and reached down to help her out. He allowed Thwei to stay and soak for longer should the green yautja want. 

She smiled up at him and he took in her form for the first time. He could see she had grown in height mostly but her weight had gone up also, even if it wasn’t by much. He had touched her faintly before and her bones had been more dominant than they were now. Even so he was going to make sure she ate before he returned her home or at least gave her some nutrient rich food for when she got home, a task he would rather postpone indefinitely so that he could feed her and help her gain health. Health that she should have managed to get back in the first year of being free like he and the young bloods had.

As he entered his room, dripping as he carried her, he glanced at his bed and figured it would dry fast enough. He set her on the pelts and she crawled about before happily curling up. Instantaneously she fell asleep and he knew that she was truly exhausted. Glancing at the pile in the washroom of her clothes, he knew they were ruined because of her adventure earlier and his own blood so he pulled a few strips of spare leather from his storage space and cut them up. 

He was not good at making clothes - not by a long shot and he was lucky his cloth was one of the most simple things to make. What he could make though was his own bracers, like that which he wrapped around his legs and used ties to keep up. He made a simple top, thin and - he realized- not wide enough to encircle her. Instead of wasting it and scrapping it he poked holes in the edges and added ties just like how he did with his bracers. He figured he could wrap this around her, tie it up and put a tie around her neck and it would stay on. Simple as simple can be.

The loin cloth was a bit harder and he was cursing by the time he gave up. It was just a rectangle shape, with two sides curved in to account for legs. But with her size different he was having trouble figuring out the ties and the flap that would cover her sex. He figured it would be fine like this and he could tie the sides together with straps when it was on her like the top. By the time he plans to take her from this world, he will have learned how to make at the very least simple clothes for her.

With the clothes finished he hesitated before going to her. Not only should she rest, but he didn't really want her to see what the clothes looked like that he made her, they seemed that bad to him. Still though, he had promised to bring her home. Going to her he put a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. “Five more minutes, papa,” She mumbled and snuggled further into a pelt.

Fingers pressed to her cheek and ran claws down the flesh softly, not marring the lightly tanned skin. “M-di. Ta’roga, no sire.” The girl woke sluggishly and looked up at him, her pupils were blown wide and he knew she wasn’t really awake. “Dress Kat, bring home.” She likely wouldn’t stay awake to eat so he’d pack up some dried meats for her for when she woke up so she would have something.

“Mmmm ‘kay.” Stumbling from the bed he urged her to just stand still and helped her dress, the clothes were ill fitted but the straps made it just tight enough to stay on her. He would really need to learn to make something for her for when he took her off world. Or perhaps he could just take enough human clothes that he wouldn’t need to worry about it. Thwei couched from the washroom and when Ta’roga looked at the younger male, he saw the towel that hung los on his hips and the struggle he was having to not outright laugh.

Thwei promised Ta’roga he would not mention this, ever, but there was an offer to teach him how to make better clothes. Thwei had found that gifting females with pelts he had hunted and tailored to them earned him far more favors than just gifting them something bought. WHile it was not an ideal situation, Ta’roga was proud of his student for his knowledge and offer to help. He would accept.

Ta’roga looked back at Kat and he wasn’t about to tell her, but she looked funny in what he had made. Sure they worked and this was just for simple travel from here to her home, but seeing her with her eyes closing to sleep standing up with the ill fitted leather was a sight he found himself chuckling at. Thwei was indeed right about how he needed to learn. Grabbing one of the smaller pelts he used to cushion his head he wrapped it around her and it was a better fit than the clothes. Picking her up she sighed and snuggled close before falling back asleep. Carrying her with one arm, grabbing her stick and some dried meat, he headed out.

It was already dark and he realized why she had fallen asleep so easily. His own days were one and a quarter of human days, so her sleep cycle was misaligned with his own. Right now was her normal resting time and having stayed up later than she probably usually did, made her more exhausted. Sleep would be the only thing she could do especially after such a trying day as she’d had.

Sneaking into the home was the hard part. Dutch was there and the soldier was likely a light sleeper. Any sound, any disturbance, would wake him. Ta’roga was always up for a challenge though so instead of waking her and making her go in alone, he patrolled around, spotted an open second story window, and climbed up into it. It was Dutch’s room if the scents were anything to go by and he figured she would feel safest waking here if anything. Tucking her in, wrapped in his pelt with her father’s pelt over her now, she let out a small sigh and he purred, pushing some of her hair behind an ear. 

Out in the hall something creaked, knowing he now overstayed his welcome Ta’roga was out the window in a blink. His camouflage was instantaneous and he was running off. It was probably also for the best if he didn’t have to kill her sire. Humans were oddly attached to their sires and carriers after all. Killing hers would likely drive her away from him rather than towards him.

.~:*:~.

A shadow moved outside and that’s all it took for Dutch to wake up. His eyes flew open and he held his breath as the large shadow circled his cabin. Listening he hoped to hear his little girl dragging her staff and trying to get in but there was nothing other than claws on a wall-

Claws on a wall?

He wanted to jump up, to run outside guns at the ready but something in him made him hesitate. If he was one of the aliens and followed a strict code of honor, what would _he_ do should he find a lost child? Hell even without the situation of being an honor bound alien he knew what he would do. But would they do the same? Everything in him screamed that yes, they’d do exactly as he would.

He remembered years ago when he reassured his men that the unconscious were in no harms way because there was no honor or sport in hunting them like that. He trusted the aliens then to stick to their code and even now he knew that they would have a similar form of honor. A child was something they would not harm or risk their own dishonor. If she had a gun, maybe, or if she was sickly and dying they might think it honorable to put her to sleep, but she was neither a threat nor hurt. Unless… what if her trek in the forest had led her to being mauled and the alien was doing the honrable thing by returning her tiny, frail frame?

Dutch could just see his poor daughter, white as a ghost with cold blue lips. Hair no longer shining and her eyes open and lifeless, glossed over in death. Wounds littering her tiny body with bits eaten by awesome animal -

Above him was his bedroom and the board creaked. The alien was in his home, in his _room_. Slipping his boots off he knew he couldn’t wait any longer and silently his socked feet made their way up the stairs, not a sound alerting the alien to his presence until a creaky board right outside his door gave him away. 

Though the crack though he saw the eight foot monster leaned over his bed, hands moving about as if tucking something in, and then it was out of his window, shifting out of sight mid leap. Dutch did not care about it though, for once he was glad the alien had been around. In the middle of his bed, tightly tucked in, was his little girl, sound asleep.

Her hair was damp as he sat down on the edge of the bed to brush it away. Had that thing taken care of her? What had happened to her in the forest? Dutch had searched until the sun went down but he had not heard a damn thing and her tracks were long gone by that point.

Coming back home had broken his heart because when he searched the house, she was still not there. No new signs of her anywhere and he knew she was still out there. Midnight had started to come around and exhaustion and stress had taken its toll on him. He had meant to only power nap before arming up better and going out in search of her. Had it not been for the shadow he wasn’t sure just when he would have woken up. 

But here his little girl was, saved by a monster and tucked ever so gently into _his_ bed. She was safe and sound, and smelled oddly clean. He did lean down to sniff at her wet hair. It seemed his checking of her briefly woke her and her small brown eyes blinked up at him. “Papa? Where is Ta’roga?”

“Where is who?” 

“My friend. He saved me from the bear.” Before Dutch could ask more of her she was already falling back into her exhausted slumber. He decided his question could wait another day and he just shifted to curl up around her, keeping a large arm over her to keep track of her through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are going to all pretend I didn't fuck up and post chapter 5 instead of 4. Okay? Okay.


	6. Keep your Quinn Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving to suburbia is not an idea either father or daughter are particularly fond of, but Dutch feels its necessary. Will Kat being able to keep her Quinn - I mean chin up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here today’s chapter. No chapter tomorrow as I work my second job mon and Wednesdays

Ch 5: 2011 Part 1; Keep Your Quinn Up

Katherine looked to the ‘whick picket fence horse’ in front of her and her father, a small whimper escaping her at its existence. She stood at her father’s side, holding his hand with one of her own and an old ratty camouflage fleece to her chest with her other. “Papa,” Her voice was soft and low, not yet having hit puberty, and Dutch struggled to hear her. “Do we really have to stay here? Can’t we go back to the cabin?” Worry crinkled her small face as she looked up at her giant of a father. 

He seemed just as displeased with this as she felt. But he knew they couldn’t, that cabin was far too dangerous with the hunters knowing about it. She might be safe but he wasn’t which put her life in jeopardy. “Ja mein Liebling.” Dutch put a large hand on his small daughter’s head and tried to not let her pout change his mind. 

It had been a few months since the incident. Their cabin had been in the deep forest of South America, she had gotten lost only to be returned to him by one of those damn alien bastards. As thrilled as he was to have her back, safe, sound, and alive, knowing that the aliens could get to them at any time there worried him to no end. Not to mention her tale the next morning of an eleven foot bear that had attacked her.

Using an alias and his savings that he had from his decades in the forces - some of it amassing from when he was on leave as a mercenary, then with OWLF and their exuberant paycheck for silence and compliance, and now retired and in hiding - he purchased this small house in a suburban area. Aliens and OWLF should struggle to find them here and if they did, it would be best for either to maintain a distance and hide until an opportunity arises. At which point Dutch will have very likely sussed them out and either killed the aliens or ran with his daughter. He wasn’t so much worried as the aliens rarely came to small places like this where there were a lot of innocents with no sport for the hunt and OWLF knows he has grown to detest others so they’d never look here.

“It’s cold, I don’t like it.” Kat crossed her arms as she let go of her father’s warm hand and intensified her pout making the man fail to hide a chuckle.

“Es ist Winter.”

“I still don’t like it!” Her retort was snippish and very pre-teenish, Dutch reached down and grabbed Katherine by her arm, giving a strong tug that she very eagerly moved with and found herself tossed into the air and caught by her father. Her peeling laughter escaped and she was finally smiling up at her graying father. This was the first time she really noticed how old he was getting and looking at the house again she hesitated. We’re they really no longer hunting? Would papa be her’s for good? Was this because he was getting old? Retirement for her father just felt _wrong_. 

Dutch knew his eleven year old was too small for her age, looking more like a seven or eight year old in stature due to her treatment and experimentation at age five. He also knew that she might grow still but with the enhancements she had it was unlikely to be much. Having done a few minor tests with a trusted medic, he learned her bone structure was thicker, less likely to break, she healed far faster than average, while her skin was still soft and silky it was also tougher and less likely to be pierced than his own. Somehow they had modified her with their year of experiments and tests. It still stuck him as odd how fast she could run and that she either aged slower. Another reason she was so small, that and the fact her metabolism was in hyperdrive all the time and she had to eat more than a child her age should to stay fit.

Tossing her up as he had always thrilled her and he did it often, enjoying her laughter and always catching her. Her smile as she would sit in his arms was blinding and he could always feel himself smiling right back at her. Sure she was always a few degrees colder to the touch, but she radiated warmth with her joy.

“You should join cheerleading in the school. You are small and light and like to be thrown.” That immediately shattered her look of joy and he grimaced. He had been planning to just kind of drop the girl off and be like ‘surprise, you have to go to school.’ But now he had spilled it and she was narrowing her eyes up at him, trying to determine if he was joking, and if not, just how mad she was going to be.

“But papa, you teach me.” She was cautious in her wording and he tried to not let on that it amused him how she thought he could be manipulated much like Brand. Katherine had a way with words and was exceptional with creating false expressions tearing up on command was a surprise the first few times she had done it. But Dutch knew his daughter and knew that no amount of pouting or even crying was real and it would not sway him. 

Poor Brand had very often had a stern talking to about why Katherine was not doing as she should, and then getting a longer lecture about how the child was not in charge and he was the adult so don’t let her talk him into crazy shit. Dutch almost chuckled as he remembered the time she was stuck in a tree because she had convinced Brand she could climb. Yes she was good at going up, but down was a different story apparently.

To this day Brand was still easily manipulated by the small girl and Dutch had a feeling up until the day Brand died he would be manipulated by her. He feared her tears far more than a hit from Dutch or Devlin. Ah that was another thing he had to tell her. Not only had he uprooted them but he was needing to go on a small trip. Not immediately as it could wait for them to settle in, but he needed to talk to Devlin and give him the USB he had compiled. If the situation was normal he would just bring her with him, leave her with Brand while meeting Devlin, then return home; but this situation was anything but normal. He knew the OWLF team was after him, trying to kill him for the knowledge he held of their black market dealings. Another reason that he had now set up in the suburbia of Vancouver.

As movers unpacked a truck - all new furniture he had purchased online and had delivered - he saw as a woman peeking out from a curtain across the street before she ducked back in. Nosey neighbors or OWLF spies, Dutch wondered. Turning he figured the movers could handle their job and he decided it would be best to greet the neighbors now. Figure out which they were and how much trust he could give to them. Not to mention if they knew there was a large hulking German in the area they would be less likely to report suspicious activity such as his taking the garbage out late at night. That would be a story he’d tell his daughter later in life to give her a pleasant tale about his pre-huntiing days.

The nosey neighbor was going to be his first stop as he would need to meet most of those in the area sooner rather than later, and this neighbor was also the closet. Holding his daughter with one arm, ignoring her furious scowl as he had not deemed her statement about school worth a reply - how he avoided most of her manipulation honestly - and knocked heavily on the door before noting the bell he should have rung. Should he press it or just wait? His knock _had_ been quite loud after all and while he didn’t particularly care if he bothered the neighbors, it would be best to keep up kind appearances.

“Coming!” Inside a man called out and he figured the nosey neighbor had a husband, or was engaged for their false pretense as spies. “Hel- can I help you?” The man had to look up at Dutch a few inches and the once marine smirked as the man looked his muscles over critically. 

“Hallo, we are your new neighbors. Came to greet you.” The man looked up again finally noticing the young girl trying to hide behind a blanket that had seen many, many, better days. He immediately relaxed and chuckled. Even Dutch’s thick accent couldn’t cause more fear than his daughter could cure.

“Really now? It had nothing to do with my _too nosey of a wife_ ” He called that out quite loudly and pointedly as he looked over his shoulder towards where Dutch had seen the woman. “Or perhaps it was so that we wouldn’t get spooked seeing a giant across the street?” Dutch grinned widely, determining he liked this man quite a lot. He reminded him of Devlin actually. Smart man who seems to not be led around like a dog on a lead, also, he seemed to have a sense of humor Dutch could appreciate.

“Ja, those too.” Jerking his arm Dutch looked at his daughter who pulled her security blanket up and over her head. She - unknown to her father or anyone else - was wondering why human men were so much more terrifying than the alien hunters to herself. She very much remembered her naked bath with the two hunters after a successful hunt. “Ah, the camouflage ghost I seem to be carrying is my daughter, Katherine.” Beneath the blanket she scowled. 

“I’m not a ghost! I’m hidden like you papa!” Again he gave a small jerk of his arm and she stayed hidden so he tugged the blanket down snorting as her hair puffed up with static. “Scuse you!” She tried to take the blanket back but her father was ten times stronger and would not release it. 

Behind the man before the duo, a young boy toddled over and looked up at the giant man and his daughter. “Oh? Who might you be?” Dutch kneeled down so that his daughter didn’t have to crane her neck so much to see.

“Rory, my son. Excuse him he doesn’t… talk yet.” Dutch looked up as Katherine deemed the boy worth a wave hello and he saw the grimace. Understanding hit Dutch hard and he looked critically at the boy, noting the difference in his intelligent stare and the quiver in his hands. He was terrified and the loud sound of Dutch’s and it was spooking him. Some form of Autism Dutch figured and set his daughter down, letting her keep the blanket and clutch to his cargo pants as he stood back up. 

Children were iffy with her he had learned while in the store recently. She seemed to fear they were the ones in the cages from back in 2005. She had no need to ever know they had all been killed and she was the lone survivor. “I see. Katherine is also- she had some… difficulties with others. Not the most social.”

“Quinn, where are your manners.” The woman from the window walked up and hit him in the side, gaining a false groan of pain and a wince. “This idiot is my husband Quinn, and I’m Emily. Would you like to come in? I’m sure the movers will be here for a while and the kids can play.”

“I don’t play.” Katherine scowled up at the woman and Dutch chuckled. 

“Of course you don’t, mein Liebling, but you will. Now go.” He tapped the back of her head and she turned her scowl upon him before entering the house to follow Emily and Rory who attached himself to his mother's pant leg just like how she had clutched at Dutch before. “I fear she takes after me far too much. Serious because she thinks it's a weakness to be seen as otherwise. I am-” Dutch hesitated before thinking better of using his real name. “My friends call me Dutch, but I'd prefer if you don’t talk about me around others. I have a bit of a reputation.”

“Army man?” Quinn asked before motioning the hulking man inside. 

“Marines, and you?” Dutch knew he was a young recruit or hadn’t been in long. 

“Army Rangers.” 

“Knew I liked you for a reason.” Dutch had been a ranger himself before deciding he was more of a hands on man than a long shot.

Upon entering Dutch made note of any possible entrance or exit, the windows, the doors, even where he felt the breeze from the central air coming from. “A life man, huh?” Quinn said it so offhandedly Dutch grunted the affirmative then paused to look at the other man. “Looking for the best position to defend from.” 

Yes and no, Dutch just grinned. He knew if one of the hunters showed up here he’d be in deep shit as his arsonal was not yet delivered. He mostly just wanted a running list for the future and for an immediate escape route should it be necessary.

“When you’ve seen what I have, you know even being out is not truly safe. There are monsters that abide by no human laws out there.” Quinn scowled as he didn’t yet understand that, but one day he might and Dutch felt a thrill run though him while imagining bringing this man onto his team. Quinn was still young, impressionable, much like Devlin had been so long ago. Just the thought of Quinn and Devlin on a team with him made him feel young again. They would make for a good, reliable, team. Just like his old team, his grin fell as he thought of them and he knew once again his daughter was going to be infuriated to learn she wasn’t coming with him to see Brand or meet Devlin.

“You alright?” Quin went to reach out but hesitated, hand hovering and Dutch shifted just a bit to show he did not want to be touched. 

“Yes, just thinking about how much rearranging I’m going to need to do.” He looked out the window towards his home where a mover was leaning on the railing, taking a smoke break. Quinn accepted the excuse and didn’t try to dig in further to his past for which Dutch was thankful for.

“Papa!” Katherine came running into the room, tears streaming from her eyes and her arms lifted desperately to be picked up and hugged. Dutch did just that already searching for a threat as his daughter _didn’t cry_ but Emily came in after her with an apologetic look. “Sorry, I offered to help her untangle her hair.” She held up a ripped ribbon and Dutch’s expression shifted into a pained understanding.

“Angus gave her that. He was the one to put her hair up before-...” the silence and heavy air in the room was more than enough of an explanation. Quinn hesitantly reached out, taking the edge of her dirty blanket to wipe her tears.

“I know it wont replace it, but as a sign of our new friendship,” He reached to his wrist and popped the clip on his paracord bracelet. Clicking it onto her he realized that her small stature was not just because her father was a giant of a man. While the ex-marine was only a few inches taller than Quinn, he was nearly double the man's size! This young girl was small enough and light enough that Dutch could hold her sitting on his forearm, or maybe Dutch was just that strong.

Looking the girl over he noticed how frail she really looked. She was thin, not a bit of baby fat on her at all and she almost looked like her bones might stick out. Her hair seemed healthy with the sheen to it and how thick the mane was but when he looked at her eyes he was struck by the intelligence in them. She was either beyond her years - like his own little Rory was turning out to be - or she was far older than she looked. 

The man's stumbled words earlier finally had more meaning to Quinn. When he said she had difficulties he thought Dutch had meant autism of some form, they were suspecting Rory’s speech problems were related to that. But looking at her, looking at how paranoid Dutch seemed, and seeing how she clung to her father led Quinn to believe Dutch was here not simply because of retirement. Bad people could very easily be looking for them and this was a safe place to hide. When that clicked he understood Dutch’s request to also not speak about him. “Are- are you sure?” Katherine’s voice brought Quinn back to reality and he hummed in question. “It looks old and important…” 

Her wrist was held up as she examined the old cord. He’d made it a few years ago with the intention of one day giving it to Rory but the boys seemed to have a problem with the feel of certain things, and he didn’t particularly seem to be fond of the sight of the cord either. “I’m sure.” Reaching over he ruffled her hair and she leaned her head against her father’s shoulder as if tired, but her eyes blanked and Quinn was worried.

“It might be best if I head home with her. It’s been an exhausting day. Come over some time I’m sure her and Rory will get along well.” Dutch left with that and Quinn watched as the man entered his home, telling the movies to just leave everything outside and he’d get it himself later, when his muscles tightened Quinn recognized the threat for what it was and determined to go and help the other man when the time came.

“I just feel so bad.” Emily spoke and he turned to sooth his upset wife. “I went to tie it for her and it just snapped.”

“It looks old and worn out, it was bound to happen.”

“What do you think happened to the Angus that he mentioned?”

“A bad mission most likely.” Reaching over Quinn touched the ribbon and felt how thin it was. She must have worn this for years and after Angus’ demise cherished it. “If you really feel that bad, we can frame it for her, maybe see if Dutch has a picture of his team to put with it.” Her eyes lit up and she rushed off suddenly.

“I have that shadow box Megan gave me! I never had a use for it that i liked but this would be good!”


	7. There Are Monsters Out There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When in need of a babysitter, who better to ask than the idiot across the street? More about poor Kat's past is unloaded in this chapter too!

Ch6: 2011 Part 2: There are monsters out there.

Katherine was pissed at her father. It almost seemed like she was infuriated to the point she might not forgive him. Dropping her off at school that first day had been bad, she had refused to let go, other children were scared of his scarred face and large size, and his child cried when the teacher had to hold her to keep her from latching back on, and even that was not as bad as now. Quinn - who dropped his own son off at Preschool - had gone with him to see Katherine off and clapped Dutch on the back of the shoulder. ‘She will be fine. Cry for a bit and then begin to have fun with the other kids.’ His reassurance had done very little for Dutch but the scotch they had shared that day along with the training they committed to together had helped.

As it turned out, it was not ‘fine’. Dutch realized just how bad of a father he had been by keeping her safely tucked up in the middle of an encampment of only soldiers. Telling his daughter she could not flip a boy double her size for pulling her hair - something he and the team had taught her to do if she was being attacked - was not okay as he didn’t believe the words he was telling her. 

Soft bullying did not count as an attack and she needed to learn to retaliate _appropriately_ which he was reluctant to admit he did agree with this. Personally he found it humorous she had downed the kid bigger than her so easily, but the school frowned upon it and he had to let her know that bullies were not in the same category as a hunter alien.

Biting was also not acceptable and he had to sit down with her, go over the rule book, and make sure she knew she could not treat school like she was once again in a southern forest with his team. No biting, no fighting, no punching, no using a stick as a staff- the list went on and on and they took a solid three hours of him telling her no to everything she asked if she could do. She determined, as did he, school rules were dumb and catered only to the bullies. _‘There is nothing we can do, mein Liebling, but abide by the rules until we are big enough to make the rules ourselves.’_

It might have been _wrong_ of him to make her think that one day she would be ‘big enough to make the rules’, but it solved that problem. Something like that would not salve the rage that burned in her eyes here and now. Her tiny fists shook, she gritted her teeth, baring them passed lips pulled back in a silent snarl, and he was again reminded of how inept of a father he had been to not properly socialize her. “Mein Liebling-”

“Nein!” Katherine snarled and Dutch was for a moment taken back that she was about to argue in german, a language he had made sure she knew even if he didn’t make her speak it often. “Du verlässt mich hier wie alle anderen auch! Ich will nicht, dass du gehst! Nimm mich mit!” ~~_No! You are abandoning me here just like everyone else! I don't want you to go! Take me with you!_~~

“I am not abandoning you Katherine,” Dutch put a hand on her shoulder and she pushed it away. He didn’t allow it though and he squatted to her height, holding both of her shaking shoulders so she didn’t run from the conversation or him. “It’s too dangerous to bring you with me to meet Devlin. With the OWLF after me, possibly wanting me dead, you could get hurt in the crossfire. I could never live with that.”

“So you are just going to leave me here with some stranger?” Dutch grimaced, he had offered to let her meet and pick the babysitter from a group he had vetted, a group which he hated to admit were far younger than he liked to trust but not nearly old enough to be spies. “How could you do this to me?!” 

Katherine turned to run off and he grabbed her by the back of her shirt before she could make it more than a step. He had learned last year just how quick she was and how dangerous it could be for her to run off. At least here there were no alien predators, or at least he hoped. He had not expected her to turn back to him so quickly, nor had he expected the tears streaming down her face, and a heart broken look in her eyes. This was not just a play of hers, another way to get what she wanted like she did with Brand. This was a raw pain she was feeling and as her father there was only one thing he could do, pull her to him and hold her tight as she cried it out.

Dutch knew he often forgot just how young she was, how emotionally underdeveloped the horror of her childhood had made her. It was times like this when she acted like a young child, younger than the preteen she was, that he remembered with strict clarity. Right now she was just a young girl who was upset that her father was leaving her, a girl that had lost everyone she had ever cared about except him. Brand was still alive but she never saw him, for a child that was as good as being lost too.

“Meine Liebe, ich möchte dich nicht mit jemandem hier lassen, den wir nicht kennen, aber welche Wahl habe ich?” ~~_My love, I do not want to leave you here with someone we do not know, but what choice do I have?_~~ He spoke softly in the harsh language but knew it would soothe his daughter. She had always loved when he spoke in german because none of the others did and it had amazed her. 

“Why can’t I just stay here alone? Or - or with Quinn and Emily?” Dutch looked towards the window and across the street where Quinn was outside trying to roll a ball to Rory who seemed to want nothing to do with the game. Without hesitation he scooped his sniffling daughter up, grabbed her fleece from the couch and she eagerly pulled it over her head to hide herself.

Quinn looked up from where the ball had rolled, a heavy sigh escaping him as his son once again just looked at the ball without any inclination of going after it. His neighbor was storming towards him with his daughter under her security blanket. “Hey Dutch, K-” Dutch gave a sharp swipe of his hand and Quinn cut off before he could acknowledge the hidden child. She was having one of her social difficulties it seemed. “What’s up, Dutch?” Using his own army training he motioned an ‘are you okay’ to Dutch, meaning Kat. 

Dutch sighed just as heavily as Quinn had been and the man almost chuckled with empathy. Instead he cracked a smile of understanding and a single nod. “I have a business trip next week. There’s no one either of us trust to watch her but one family.” Katherine dared to peek out and Quinn feigned not seeing her. 

“Your house or mine?” Dutch really didn’t have to ask honestly, Quinn and Emily adored Katherine and Quinn held Dutch in high regard. Of course they would be thrilled to keep an eye on the girl for Dutch.

“She can stay the day here but I do not think she will sleep here.”

“Well, come on inside. Her and Rory can play together and we can talk. Emily made a fresh pie I’m not allowed to touch but this seems like a good excuse to ignore that.” Katherine tugged her blanket down but held it tightly, her face beat red and her eyes puffy, Quinn understood just why Dutch had come over as fast as he had. WHen Kat showed true emotion like this, her father ended up slightly spooked and unsure of what to do. The man thought he was strong but this tiny girl had him wrapped around her finger. “Hey there, Kat, would you like some warm cherry pie?”

Her sniffle and nod had Emiily - who was squinting at him suspiciously from the kitchen- determining that he had the right idea for the girl. She cut the pie for them and there was a definite gloat to Quinn as the woman took the children to put a movie on. Katherine lost the argument as to why they should watch War Of The Worlds the moment ‘war’ came out of her lips. She was determined to try and convince the woman though as she carried her pie and hot cocoa with her.

“I know it’s a tough subject but what happened to her?” Quinn plucked some whiskey from the top of the fridge and Dutch nodded, he’d need it to get through this conversation.

“It's a long story.”

Dun dun dun, duuuun! Dun dun dun, boom boom! “Well, Jurassic Park is a trilogy so we should have time.” Dutch listened closely, knowing the universal theme intro but not how Quinn knew it was that movie. “We put it on for Rory when we have to talk, he is enthralled by the dinosaurs and it’s got loud enough sounds and music that he can't hear but not so loud it irritates him.”

“She’s never seen a dinosaur.” Dutch scowled as he considered his own words. “Tell Emily to take pictures or videos when she sees the first one, ja?” Quinn would have laughed had that not been a really sad fact, instead he just texted his wife and she sent an okay back. “When she was four her mother was killed and she was taken.” Quinn’s head snapped up and then the movie's volume was turned up.

“What happened?” He couldn’t help but glance towards the living room wondering if Katherine would hear and if she would have enough comfort items with her if she did.

“A team of rouge scientists were kidnapping children. She was just one of many they took.” Dutch took a gulp of his drink and sat back, the chair creaking under his weight. “They did things to her, it would have been a mercy if it was as simple as raping the child. But they were _scientist_ and they had an inkling to play god over anything they could get their hands on. The experiments they did on the other children left them all decaying and dying, the state of the crates they were kept in - I came three days after the lab sent out a distress beacon and still those cages were filthy. I don't think any amount of cleaning will remove the stench and rot.”

Quinn just refilled Dutch’s cup when he finished it. He didn’t want to ask or wonder what had happened. “You got her back though.”

“I got a shell of the child I left with her mother. It pains me to say it, but there’s no other way to explain it. She was five when we found her,” Quinn downed his own drink, a year in those conditions? He’s sure there was a lot more Dutch would not tell him about it but he could imagine. At least she was spared one horror, he thought before images of them doing that to others in front of the children plagued his mind. He wouldn’t ask because he did _not_ want an answer to that. “It took us years to get her to open up again. To talk and not flinch at any fast moves. She was finally getting _better_ when-” Dutch’s fist clenched and the glass shattered, he seemed shocked he did that but Quinn just got him another glass.

“We can clean it later.” Quinn only heard a single part of the story and so much made sense to him already. The paranoia, the social ineptitude of father and daughter, the clinging, distrust of even innocent people. 

“I brought him into my team Quinn. He tried to hurt her because he liked children. Still haven't found him but I’ve got a feeling one of my enemies allied with me in searching for him and I’ll never find him. She seemed fine after that, but her fear of outsiders had intensified and she doesn’t like it when people look at her too long. She probably doesn’t know I know, but I see how she flinches and shies away. You rubbed her shoulder and she ran off to play with Rory,” Dutch looked at Quinn whose expression was blank, but his eyes let Dutch know he understood.

“Got it.” Quinn held his glass with both hands to keep from shaking. He didn’t want to hear more but he felt like there was more he needed to. 

“We left her behind for a mission, Brand was the one to stay and - he wouldn’t have made a difference in the fight. I was at first glad someone on the team survived for her sake but it hit her hard. Even harder when Brand was transferred to a new team. It’s been just me and her since, she doesn’t trust people. There’s little things that have happened, a bear attack, mercenaries that were too close to our camp even when the team was still around, the people hunting us now, it’s just piling on for her and she’s seen more bad than she has good.” Quinn knew she was eleven and if this had started at four, then most of her life was growing up in some kind of war. Both a figurative one and a literal one.

“I guess horror movies don't really scare her.”

“I haven’t tried to see.” There was a hidden ‘don't you try either’ attached to that and Quinn made note to let Emily know no horror movies at all.

“So her sleeping at your house, you don't mind me staying there? I would normally say Emily could go over but knowing what I know now, it might be safer if it’s me-” He was about to say he didn’t feel comfortable having Emily stay there by herself but Katherine screecheded and came running in, her eyes were light up and she was practically flying with her bouncing.

“Papa! Papa! Es sind die Aliens, die du jagst! Sie sind unterschiedlich, aber sie haben die gleiche Haut!” Quinn leaned back and just looked at her. Who was this child that burst in here?! She’s never been this animated, never spoken - what even was that? German? - and she looked about ten times healthier with this glow to her. ~~ _Papa! Papa! It's the aliens you hunt! They are different but they have the same skin!_~~

“She speaks german?” That’s the only thing he could articulate right this moment. Emily stood at the doorway looking probably just as shocked as he did. 

“Nein, meine Liebe, sie sind nicht gleich. Genauso hässlich, aber nicht dasselbe.” He put a finger under her chin, smiling right back at her and gaining ten years of life back to his old face. Their foreheads touched lightly and she kissed his nose before he kissed her hair and she hurried back. ~~_No, my love, they are not the same. Just as ugly but not the same._~~

“Emily, come! We gotta see more of the aliens papa hunts!” Katherine took Emily by the hand, tugging her back into the room and Quinn rubbed at his face. It felt like ten years have been added to him from her scream and the insane amount of knowledge he had just gained.

“Her past, she speaks german, and you can actually smile. I think I need another drink.” Dutch chuckled and leaned back, even with her past so much at the forefront of his mind he was now in a good mood. Seeing Katherine so filled with life and joy always made him feel younger and happier again. 

“Ja, She learned english first and I taught her german to help distract her. She spoke only in german for almost a year and it was when Brand threatened to learn it too did she start with English again. She rarely speaks it, mostly when very emotional. While watching her you’ll see, probably more than I would because she’s not as afraid when I'm around. If she wakes up with a night terror she will speak it too, though most times she just wakes and finds something to do to distract herself.”

“Night terrors?” 

“Mmm.” Dutch just hummed and craned to look into the living room as he heard his daughter chittering at Rory in german, trying to convey her joy but unable to discern the proper language. “The experiments. The ones that won't go away no matter what I do are the mazes. They put her and others into a maze, like rats with cheese, but the floor was like a stove. If they couldn’t get out fast enough…” Well, at least now Quinn would wake up with the same nightmares as the poor girl.

“How could anyone do anything like this to a child? She’s so sweet and innocent.” Dutch leaned forward to look at Quinn.

“They did this to over sixty children we know of. That's the number of bodies that were found with her. These children were not the first. If anything ever happens to her, what those monsters did to those scientists will be nothing compared to what I will do.”

“Monsters? Didn’t you get the scientist?”

Dutched downed his drink. “I told you when we first moved here, there are monsters out there.” Quinn just stayed sitting down, holding his glass and looking at the pie he and Dutch hadn't touched. 

“Quinn?” Emily came into the kitchen and he was aware of the door outfront clicking closed. So Dutch had left.

“Don’t ask, Emily. What happened - that girl has experienced a horror I don’t think any war I see can compare to.” And what Dutch said as he left sent a chill down Quinn’s back. 

Dutch was very clear on that. Nothing in his tone or stance left Quinn thinking he meant anything except what he said. Quinn thought when they first meant Dutch meant something else, something his story about Katherine had made exuberantly clear. But he wasn't so sure anymore. Human monsters were vastly different from the clear meaning of his words.

‘We gotta see more of the aliens papa hunts!’ Dutch was a god damn alien hunter.

_‘There are monsters out there.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my last pre edited draft. So tomorrow posting might not happen

**Author's Note:**

> Has anyone caught onto the reference of another fandom in this work? CH2 (Sugar Coating MAPs) has one and I'll give you a hint, it's a fandom about vampires. Whoever is the first to guess will get to pick a oneshot theme for Ta'roga/Kat :D Anything from innocent childhood memory together, AU of them, or a future oneshot of them! Or you can ask for one about any other Kat interacting with characters from this series or other predator series (like lets say Wolf from AVPR or Scar, or the captive predator in Predators etc) Or even an aliens crossover oneshot! Basically you can as for any kind of oneshot assoiciated with Kat. More random fandom references might pop up, and when they do I'll offer the same reward! Keep guessing until someone gets it!  
> Ch 8 (Learning To Fly a Spaceship) Will have one too so keep an eye out!


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